A 


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WORtt 

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•N1V.  OF  CALTF.  IJRRAWV.  f.OS 


THE  STORY  OF  AB 

A  TALE  OF  THE  STONE  AGE 

BY  STANLEY  WATERLOO 


A  graphic  story  of  the  time  of  prehistoric  man, 
which  is  not  more  interesting  as  describing  the  life  of 
those  ancient  times  than  as  depicting  the  evolution  of 
the  soul.  It  is  hp  endidly  illustrated  by  Vedder. 

PRICE,  $1.50. 


What  President  Roosevelt  has  said  o:  the  book: 

"The  ways  of  primitive  man  have  always  been  of  all-absorb- 
ing interest  to  me,  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
only  the  good  novelist  who  can  teach  us  the  best  part  of  his- 
tory— the  histor  .'  of  the  life  itself.  The  book  gives  me  the  idea 
of  'Ab'  that  Sienkiewiez  does  of  'Zagloba'  in  the  seventeenth 
century  Poles." 


COOLIDGE  ®L  WATERLOO 

87    Washington    Street,    Chicago 

Room  419 


THESE  ARE  MY  JEWELS 


BY 
STANLEY  "WATERLOO 

Author  of  "The  Story  of  Ab,"  "A  Man  and 
a  Woman,"  etc. 


CHICAGO 

COOUDGE  &  WATERLOO 

87  and  89  Washington  St. 

1902 


COPYRIGHT,  1902, 

BY  STANLEY  WATERLOO 

All  rights  reserved. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 
WHO  WE  ALL  ARE 9 

CHAPTER  II. 
A  DAY  OF  ADVENTURE 26 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  RED  SWIPER 46 

CHAPTER  IV. 
A  WHOLESOME  NEW  PRESENCE 59 

CHAPTER  V. 
A  WONDERFUL  NEW  WORLD 77 

CHAPTER  VI. 
"IT  Is  I.    BE  NOT  AFRAID." 89 

CHAPTER  VII. 

WORK,  TRUST  AND  DON'T  WORRY 100 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
CONSCIENCE 117 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  COMMITTEE  OF  INQUIRY 131 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  GREAT  KOPJE  FIGHT 146 

CHAPTER  XL 
PRIDE  GOES  BEFORE  A  FALL 163 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  TEST  OF  JIM 181 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

A  BIT  OF  ROMANCE 197 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
PAIN 208 

CHAPTER  XV. 
A  DAY  IN  FEBRUARY 223 


2133630 


"JUST  AS  THE  TWIG  is  BENT  THE  TREE'S 
INCLINED.  ' ' 

— Pope's  Essay  on  Man. 


THESE  ARE  MY  JEWELS 


CHAPTER  I 

WHO  WE  ALI,  ARE 

My  name  is  Katherine  L/awson  and  I 
am  eleven  years  old.  My  brother,  who 
calls  me  "Kit,"  is  a  year  older  than  I. 
He  is  named  James  and  often  tries  to  be 
a  good  boy.  I  call  him  "Jim,"  just  as  he 
calls  me  "  Kit."  Of  course  we  are  well 
acquainted  enough  for  that.  My  father's 
given  name  is  Robert  and  my  mother's 
name  is  Frances.  They  seem  to  me  the 
best  father  and  mother  in  the  world,  but 
I  suppose  other  children  think  the  same 
way  of  their  own.  I  only  know  this, 
that  we  are  an  awfully  happy  family, 
even  if  Jim  and  I  do  have  hard  work  in 
being  really  good.  Jim  says  it  is  so  easy 
to  "  fall  down." 


10  These  Are  My  Jewels 

We  live  in  a  nice  place,  too.  Merrivale 
is  not  a  very  big  town,  but  it  is  pretty 
and  the  school  is  good  and  there  are 
woods  near  by  through  which  runs  a 
creek  where  the  boys  go  fishing  or  swim- 
ming, and  where  we  have  picnics  some- 
times. There  is  one  big  oak  and  beech 
wood  where  there  are  a  great  many  birds 
and  squirrels  and  where  the  ground  is 
almost  covered  in  spring  with  different 
kinds  of  flowers.  Beyond  this  wood  is  a 
great  swamp  with  tamarack  trees  and 
dark  places  where  there  is  almost  no 
sound  in  the  daytime.  There  are  farms 
and  little  groves  all  about  and,  when 
one  climbs  the  hill  anywhere  out  of 
town  and  looks  around,  the  scene  is  very 
beautiful.  Merrivale  is  certainly  a  good 
place  to  live  in. 

We  live  on  Ray  street,  along  the  side- 
walk of  which  are  a  great  many  shade 
trees,  mostly  maples  and  elms,  and  our 
house,  which  is  close  to  the  edge  of  town, 


Who  We  All  Are  11 

has  a  long  piazza  in  front  and  a  front 
garden  and  big  back  garden,  and  there 
is  a  barn  where  we  keep  two  horses  and 
one  cow,  which  are  tended  by  a  hired 
man  named  Jake  Heinrichs.  He  is  a 
German  who  has  not  been  in  this  coun- 
try a  great  while  and  his  talk  sounds 
funny  to  us.  Jim  used  to  mimic  him, 
but  he  doesn't  any  more.  Jake  is  good 
natured  and  very  useful. 

The  house  just  north  of  us  belongs  to 
the  Duncans  arid  they  have  three  chil- 
dren of  about  our  age,  two  boys  and  a 
girl.  The  boys  are  named  Alexander 
and  Malcom  and  the  girl's  name  is  Mary. 
I  play  with  her  a  great  deal.  On  the 
south  side  of  our  house  is  the  one  that 
belongs  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lane  and  they 
have  three  children,  too,  only  they  have 
two  girls  and  a  boy  instead  of  two  boys 
and  a  girl.  The  girls  are  named  Ellen 
and  Agnes  and  the  boy's  name  is  John. 
We  play  with  them  almost  as  much  as 


12  These  Are  My  Jewels 

we  do  with  the  Duncan  children.  Back 
of  our  house,  quite  a  way  down,  in  what 
we  call  the  "Flats,"  live  some  people 
with  the  funny  name  of  Slann,  and  they 
have  two  boys,  one  younger  and  one 
older  than  our  Jim.  The  older  one  is 
called  Viggo  and  the  other  Max.  They 
are  not  Americans  and  they  are  not 
quite  like  Germans,  either.  I  think  they 
must  come  from  some  place  in  Europe 
farther  north  than  Germany  is.  Any- 
way, our  boys  have  got  into  the  habit  of 
playing  with  them,  so  that  you  will 
often  see  the  whole  six  together.  Then 
there  is  a  bigger  boy  who  is  sometimes 
with  them  whose  name  is  John  Peter- 
son. The  boys  have  nicknames  for  each 
other  and  John  Peterson,  because  he  had 
been  reading  about  the  war  in  Africa, 
said  that  the  other  boys  must  call  him 
Johannesburg  Pietersburg,  which  is  a 
hard  name  to  pronounce.  That  made 
trouble,  in  the  end,  but  I  will  tell  about 


Who  We  All  Are  13 

it  later  on.  Of  course  there  are  lots  of 
other  boys  and  girls  we  know  but  these 
I  have  told  about  are  the  ones  we  mostly 
have  around. 

I  don't  know  how  to  tell  just  what  I 
wish  about  all  we  have  done  this  sum- 
mer— Jim  and  I,  I  mean — about  how  our 
papa  and  mamma  wanted  us  to  do  some 
things,  and  how  we  got  along.  It  is  all 
clear  enough  in  my  mind  but  I  cannot 
tell  it  very  well.  If  I  were  older,  maybe 
I  could  write  it  better.  But  I  must  do 
the  best  I  can.  I  remember  perfectly 
how  it  began. 

Papa  and  mamma  were  sitting  on  the 
piazza,  after  supper  and  Jim  and  I  were 
sitting  on  the  steps  close  to  them,  talk- 
ing of  something  we  were  going  to  do 
after  school  next  day.  I  saw  papa  look- 
ing at  us  thoughtfully  a  little  while,  and 
then  he  turned  to  mamma.  I  remember 
every  word  he  said  : 

"Frances,  don't  you  think  the  children 


14  These  Are  My  Jewels 

are  old  enough  now  to  be  taught  a  little 
more  clearly  and  definitely  what  we 
would  like  them  to  know  and  feel? 
Don't  you  believe  we  can  get  them  to 
understand,  now,  and  practice  a  good 
deal  of  that  which  will  make  the  kind  of 
man  and  woman  we  hope  to  see  some 
day  ?  What  do  you  think  of  it  ?  " 

Mamma  thought  for  quite  a  time,  and 
then  she  said  : 

"  I  believe  you're  right,  Robert — only — 
you  must  remember  that  they  are  chil- 
dren yet.  You  may  be  disappointed, 
sometimes." 

"That  is  true,"  said  papa,  "but  I  think 
they  will  understand.  After  all,  there  is 
nothing  beyond  the  comprehension  of 
even  children  of  their  age  in  what  we 
want  them  to  know.  Their  ordinary  les- 
sons in  school  are  more  difficult.  I  wish 
we  had  begun  with  them  sooner,  in  the 
broader  way,  but  we  didn't  know  our- 
selves, did  we?"  and  he  laughed.  I  like 


Who  We  All  Are  15 

always  to  hear  papa  laugh.  There  is 
something  about  it  that  makes  you  feel 
good,  and  papa  laughs  a  great  deal. 
Mamma  is  a  little  graver,  because  she 
only  smiles,  and  sometimes  he  calls  her 
"The  Deaconess,"  though  she  seems 
always  to  do  what  he  says.  But  then 
papa  seems  to  always  do  what  she  says, 
too,  so  they  get  along  very  well.  They 
are  fond  of  each  other. 

Mamma  smiled  and  papa  turned  to  us: 

"Children,  I'm  going  to  help  you  go  to 
another  school  besides  the  one  you  are 
attending  now." 

Jim  looked  scared.  Jim  is  a  pretty 
good  scholar,  though  I  think  he  might 
study  more,  but  he  isn't  exactly  fond  of 
school.  He  says  the  only  thing  he  really 
likes  about  it  is  recess.  So,  when  papa 
said  what  he  did,  Jim  rather  "  wilted,"  as 
he  would  say. 

"Where's  the  school?"  he  asked. 

"Everywhere,"  said  papa. 


16  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Jim  didn't  ask  any  more  and  papa 
went  on : 

"  You  are  pretty  good  children,  I  think, 
as  children  go,  and  certainly  your  mother 
and  I  care  for  you  above  all  things  in  the 
world.  We  have  tried  to  teach  you  in 
what  we  thought  the  best  way,  just  as 
all  fathers  and  mothers  try  to  do  what 
is  best  for  their  own.  You  have  one  of  the 
best  of  mothers.  You  have  been  taught 
the  difference  between  right  and  wrong; 
you  go  to  church  and  Sunday  school, 
and  good  people  teach  you,  besides  us. 
You  have  never  disappointed  us  much. 
You're  not  a  bad  lot,  you  two,"  and  papa 
laughed  his  dear  laugh  again,  "  but 
you're  old  enough  now  to  learn  some- 
thing more,  something  that  will  affect 
what  you  do  at  all  times.  Your  mother 
and  I  are  learning  it — I  wish  we  had 
learned  it  earlier — and  it  has  made  us  a 
great  deal  happier  and,  I  hope,  better 
than  we  were  before.  It  has  made  this 


Who  We  All  Are  17 

world  of  ours  more  worth  living  in.  We 
want  you  to  enjoy  it  all  with  us.  Do  you 
think,  just  because  you  love  us  arid 
because  I  know  that  you  will  enjoy  it 
yourselves,  that  you  can  try?" 

We  both  said  we  could,  though  I  didn't 
understand,  and  Jim  told  me  afterward 
that  he  was  puzzled,  too. 

"  All  right,"  said  papa,  "  we'll  begin 
tonight.  I'll  not  say  another  word  to 
you,  now,  but  I'll  give  you  something  to 
learn  by  heart,"  and  then  he  went  into 
the  house.  He  came  out  in  a  little  while 
with  a  sheet  of  paper  which  he  gave 
to  us. 

"There  are  only  some  short  texts  upon 

it,"  said  papa,  "but  I  want  you  to  learn 

• 

them  so  thoroughly  that  you  cannot 
possibly  forget  any  one  of  them  as  long 
as  you  live.  Do  you  think  you  can  have 
it  done  by  tomorrow  evening?" 

I  looked  at  the  paper  and  saw  that  the 
verses  were  all  short  ones,  so  I  said  I 


18  These  Are  My  Jewels 

was  sure  I  could  learn  them  all  in  the 
time  he  gave  us,  and  Jim  said  he  guessed 
he  could,  too.  And  that  was  all  that  hap- 
pened that  evening.  These  were  the 
texts  on  the  paper  : 

God  is  for  me. — Ps.  Ivi,  9. 

As  thy  days  so  shall  thy  strength  be. — Deut. 
xxxiii,  25. 

Trust  in  the  L,ord  with  all  thine  heart. — 
Prov.  iii,  5. 

Trust  in  Him  at  all  times. — Ps.  Ixii,  8. 

The  L,ord  shall  guide  you  continually. — Isa. 
Iviii,  n. 

I  will  both  lay  me  down  in  peace  and  sleep, 
for  thou  Lord  only  maketh  me  to  dwell  in 
safety. — Ps.  iv,  8. 

There  shall  no  evil  befall  thee. — Ps.  xci,  10. 

The  Lord  is  on  my  side  ;  I  will  not  fear. — 
Ps.  cxviii,  6. 

Is  there  anything  too  hard  for  me  ? — John 
xxx,  27. 

We  studied  pretty  hard  the  next  day, 
for  we  knew  that  papa  was  very  much  in 
earnest  though  he  seemed  to  speak  in 
a  matter  of  course  way  to  us.  Papa  and 


Who  We  All  Are  19 

mamma  both  believe  in  and  try  to  prac- 
tice what  is  called  "The  New  Thought, 
or  The  Broader  Thought,  or  The  Science 
of  Being."  I  don't  think  they  have  been 
interesed  in  it  more  than  two  or  three 
years ;  I  guess  before  that  time  they 
were  just  like  other  people,  but  I  do 
know  that,  somehow,  the  last  two  years 
have  seemed  the  best  and  brightest  I 
can  remember  around  the  house.  Papa 
and  mamma  always  look  happy  and 
papa's  business  is  always  prosperous 
and  mamma  is  always  well  and  smiling. 
I  made  up  my  mind,  when  papa  spoke  to 
mamma  as  he  did  on  the  piazza,  that 
they  were  going  to  try  to  teach  us  the 
New  Thought,  too,  and  I  knew  the 
verses  had  something  to  do  with  it,  so  I 
studied  as  hard  as  I  could  and,  by  night, 
I  had  them  all  committed,  though  not 
quite  "  solid,"  as  Jim  calls  it.  Jim  kept 
up  with  me  until  about  three  o'clock 
and  was  getting  along  pretty  well  until 


20  These  Are  My  Jewels 

the  Duncan  boys  came  along.  Then  he 
said  he  guessed  an  hour  wouldn't  matter 
and  that  he  could  make  it  up,  and  so 
•went  off  with  them.  He  didn't  get  back 
until  nearly  five  and  then,  though  he 
studied  hard,  he  wasn't  prepared  when 
supper  came.  We  went  out  on  the 
piazza  as  usual  and  papa  asked  us  how 
we  had  got  along.  Jim  told  papa  that 
he  had  tried  but  was  a  little  "shaky" 
yet,  and  begged  for  another  day,  and 
papa  laughed  a  little  and  said,  "All 
right." 

Didn't  we  study  the  next  day  !  Jim 
was  at  it  before  breakfast,  and  after  that 
I  kept  saying  my  verses  over  again  and 
Jim  got  his,  too,  and,  in  the  afternoon, 
we  kept  saying  them  together  until  we 
couldn't  either  of  us  possibly  forget 
them.  They  were  just  "plastered  in," 
Jim  said. 

After  supper  we  said  we  were  all  right 
and  recited  the  verses  to  papa.  He  tried 


Who  We  All  Are  21 

us  every  way  with  them  and  said  he  was 
satisfied.     Then  he  talked  to  us. 

"My  boy  and  girl,"  he  said,  "I  don't 
suppose  you  quite  know  why  I  wanted 
you  to  learn  those  verses  so  that  you 
would  never  forget  them,  but  you  will 
understand  by  and  by.  I  want  you  to 
know  and  realize  more  than  you  have 
yet  been  taught,  Who  it  is  that  you  can 
always  rely  upon,  and  I  want  you  to  have 
those  texts  always  in  mind,  so  that  you 
can  repeat  them  to  yourselves  for  your 
own  relief  and  encouragement  when- 
ever you  are  in  trouble  or  have  the  least 
doubt.  There  is  no  one  we  can  always 
rely  upon  but  God  and  we  know  that 
there  is  a  God  who  is  good  and  who  is 
always  caring  for  us.  If  there  were  no 
God,  if  there  were  no  great  Power  doing 
it  all,  the  world  would  not  turn  round, 
our  hearts  would  not  beat,  the  flowers 
would  not  open  nor  the  birds  sing. 
There  would  be  no  world  or  human 


22  These  Are  My  Jewels 

beings  or  flowers  or  birds.  There 
would  be  nothing.  Even  you  children 
can  understand  that  there  must  be  a 
Creator,  somewhere,  the  One  who  made 
all  these  things  and  who  gives  life  and 
feeling  and  understanding.  He  has 
given  us  the  intelligence  to  know  what 
His  laws  for  our  good  are,  and  we  know 
that  if  we  only  obey  them  and  take 
advantage  of  them,  -we  will  prosper  and 
be  happy.  We  have  intelligence,  too,  to 
know  that  He  does  nothing,  creates 
nothing  without  a  purpose.  So  we  know 
that  we  shall  live  again  after  this  world, 
since  nothing  exists  without  a  purpose 
and  even  a  thought  is  a  thing.  The  very 
fact  that  we  all  want  to  live  again  means 
that  we  shall  so  live.  If  it  were  not  so 
God  would  never  have  created  the 
thought  in  us.  Can  you  understand  the 
meaning  of  what  I  am  saying?" 

We  both  said  we  could.     I  knew  I  did. 
I  could  even  understand  one  of  the  rea- 


Who  We  All  Are  23 

sons  why  we  shall  live  again  after  we 
die.  It  seemed  all  so  simple  and  good. 

Papa  went  on: 

"You  understand  then  why  I  wanted 
you  to  always  have  those  texts  in  mind. 
There  are  many  other  texts,  just  as  good, 
which  will  some  day  be  a  help  to  you. 
Well,  with  such  a  God,  such  a  Friend 
always  looking  after  us  and  caring  for 
us  if  we  ask  Him,  shouldn't  we  be  all 
right,  all  the  time?  Shouldn't  we  just 
do  our  best,  and  then  not  be  afraid  of 
anything?  Shouldn't  we,  if  only  because 
we  are  thankful,  try  to  obey  all  His  laws 
— and  they  are  all  simple  ones  and  only 
for  our  good — and  be  glad  over  it?  Your 
mother  and  I  have  been  trying  it  and  it 
has  made  everything  -wonderfully  better 
for  us.  Will  you  try  it  with  us?  We  will 
help  you  all  we  can.  We  don't  expect 
you'll  find  everything  easy  at  first." 

Even  Jim,  who  is  a  boy  and  doesn't 
listen  to  things  as  patiently  as  he  should, 


24  These  Are  My  Jewels 

had  got  as  interested  as  I  in  what  papa 
was  saying,  and  we  both  said  we'd  do 
our  beet. 

"Well,"  papa  said,  "that  is  what  I  want 
you  to  begin  to  do,  or,  at  least,  begin  try- 
ing to  do.  I  want  you  to  bear  in  mind 
two  words,  Belief  and  Courage.  I  want 
you  to  believe  that  God  will  alwa}rs  help 
you  out,  and  so,  whenever  you  are  doubt- 
ful, even  about  small,  annoying  things, 
just  repeat  to  yourselves  any  of  the  texts 
you  have  learned.  He  will  care  for  you 
and  you  must  not  be  afraid  of  anything 
in  the  world.  You  must  fear  nothing, 
not  anyone,  nor  any  danger  to  your 
bodies,  nor  anything  unpleasant  which 
may  seem  likely  to  happen.  Just  quote 
the  text  and  say  to  yourselves  that  every- 
thing will  come  out  all  right.  You'll  find 
then  that  it  will  be  all  right,  anyhow. 
We'll  begin  at  once.  I  know  that,  in  the 
end,  both  of  you  will  succeed,  and  you 
mustn't  be  discouraged  by  anything  that 


Who  We  All  Are  25 

happens  at  first.  We'll  help  you — your 
mother  and  I  —  and  don't  forget  the 
texts.  Let  me  know  how  you  get  along." 
And  so  papa  and  mamma  had  started 
us  out  on  a  way  of  living  Jim  and  I  had 
never  thought  much  about  before.  We 
two  had  a  long  talk  over  it  that  night. 
We  made  up  our  minds  that  we  woujd 
try  hard,  but  we  didn't  see  how  we  could 
help  being  afraid  of  some  things.  The 
next  day  was  Saturday. 


CHAPTER  II. 

• 

A   DAY  OF  ADVENTURE. 

What  a  day!  It  was  Saturday  and  Jim 
and  the  Duncan  boys,  Alexander  and 
Malcom,  —  or  rather  Sandy  and  the  Rat, 
as  the  boys  call  them  —  had  planned  to 
go  down  the  creek  fishing  in  the  after- 
noon. Mary  Duncan  and  I  had  begged 
to  go  along  and  they  said  we  might.  We 
started  soon  after  dinner  and  in  half  an 
hour  were  at  the  creek  at  a  place  where 
the  water  is  deep  and  where  the  boys 
have,  generally,  pretty  good  luck.  There 
are  sunfish  in  the  pool-like  places  and, 
sometimes,  the  boys  catch  a  black  bass, 
and  that  is  a  great  event  for  them.  As 
for  Mary  and  me,  we  knew  we  could 
find  some  late  flowers,  for  it  was  only 
the  first  of  June  then,  and,  besides,  we 
were  going  to  play  housekeeping  for  the 

26 


A  Day  of  Adventure  27 

boys.  Boys  are  hungry  about  all  the 
time,  and  mamma  gave  us  a  whole  lot 
of  slices  of  ham  to  fry  and  Mary's  mother 
gave  us  two  loaves  and  some  butter  in 
a  paper  box  and  the  boys  already  had 
hidden  somewhere  down  the  creek  an 
old  frying-pan  without  any  handle,  and 
we  concluded  we  would  have  a  banquet 
of  fried  ham  sandwiches.  We  got  to  the 
creek  about  two  o'clock. 

The  boys  began  fishing  after  they  had 
found  the  frying-pan  for  us,  and  Mary 
and  I  began  building  a  fire.  It  was  made 
of  short  pieces  of  dead  limbs  and  chunks 
of  wood  the  creek  had  brought  down  in 
the  spring,  and  we  soon  had  it  going 
nicely.  Then  we  spent  a  long  time 
scouring  the  inside  of  the  frying-pan 
with  sand  until  we  got  it  as  bright  as 
could  be.  Afterward  we  went  off  among 
the  bushes  and  into  the  fields  after 
flowers  and  bright  leaves,  and  found  a 
lot  of  them.  We  were  gone  about  two 


28  These  Are  My  Jewels 

hours  and  when  we  came  back  the  boys, 
who  had  given  up  fishing  and  were 
hunting  for  clam-shells  in  the  mud,  said 
that  they  were  all  hungry  enough  to  eat 
anything  and  wanted  us  to  hurry  with 
the  banquet.  The  fire  had  burned  down 
to  a  lot  of  coals  by  this  time  and  we  put 
on  the  frying-pan,  with  some  butter  in 
it,  and  began  frying  the  ham  at  once. 
The  boys  sliced  up  the  bread  with  their 
knives  and  made  sandwiches  as  we 
passed  out  the  ham.  How  they  did  eat! 
I  don't  know,  but  I  think  boys  are  more 
hollow  than  girls.  Finally,  they  began 
to  let  down,  or  let  up,  a  little  —  I  don't 
know  which  is  right — all  but  Jim,  who 
had  kindly  promised  not  to  quite  fill 
himself  at  first  but  to  wait  and  eat  part 
of  his  lunch  with  me. 

We  cooked  some  more  meat  and  Mary 
made  a  big  sandwich  for  herself  and 
there  was  left  a  great  round  slice  of 
ham  as  big  as  a  dinner  plate  which 


A  Day  of  Adventure  29 

looked  awfully  good.  I  was  hungry,  too. 
Just  then  Jim  thought  of  something. 

"I  don't  see  how  we  are  going  to  eat 
it,"  he  declared.  "We  have  been  told 
never  to  eat  meat  with  our  fingers,  and 
I  am  going  to  be  obedient.  I  didn't 
think  of  it  when  I  was  eating  with  the 
boys." 

Of  course  I  couldn't  be  disobedient 
especially  if  Jim  wasn't  going  to  be.  I 
think  sisters  should  always  set  an  ex- 
ample to  their  brothers,  but  what  were 
we  going  to  do!  I  had  become  so  hungry 
that  I  almost  cried.  Then  Jim  had  an 
invention. 

"Don't  worry,  Kit",  he  shouted,  "I'll 
show  you!  and  he  broke  off  a  thin, 
straight  piece  of  limb  about  two  feet 
long  and  smoothed  it  and  sharpened  it 
at  each  end  with  his  knife.  One  end  of 
the  sharpened  stick  he  pushed  down 
hard  into  a  log  which  was  partly  rotten 
and,  taking  some  newspaper,  he  seized 


30  These  Are  My  Jewels 

the  big  piece  of  ham  and  pushed  it  half 
way  down  on  the  pointed  stick.  There 
it  stood,  with  the  ham  sticking  out  all 
round. 

"We  needn't  touch  it  with  our  hands 
at  all",  Jim  declared,  "We'll  sit  on  the 
log  on  each  side  and  eat  round  it  with 
our  mouths  alone  without  any  help  in 
getting  it  to  us.  Sail  in!" 

There  was  nothing  else  to  do,  so  we 
sat  on  the  log  with  some  bread  in  our 
hands  and  craned  down  and  bit  off  half- 
moon  bites  of  ham,  and  so  ate  it  all,  first 
ham,  then  bread  and  so  on.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  I  had  never  eaten  any  ham 
before  which  tasted  so  good.  My  nose 
got  all  shiny  and  the  bending  made  my 
neck  ache  a  little,  but  I  had  the  thought 
that  we  were  obedient  youth,  and  that 
was  a  comfort  to  me. 

It  was  just  then  that  gloom  came  upon 
the  hour.  Who  should  come  along  but 
the  Slann  boys,  and  when  Viggo,  the  big 


A  Day  of  Adventure  31 

one  —  he  is  fourteen  years  old  —  found 
what  we  had  been  doing  and  that  all  the 
bread  and  ham  were  gone  he  looked 
quite  discontented  and  ugly.  The  boys 
went  to  fishing  again  and  the  Slann  boys 
hung  round.  Max,  the  younger  one  who 
is  a  fat,  solemn-looking  boy  with  a  large 
red  head,  climbed  out  to  the  middle  of  a 
big  log  which  lay  across  the  stream  and 
nearly  ten  feet  above  it,  and  sat  there 
with  his  bare  feet  hanging  down.  Viggo 
just  idled  around.  By  and  by  he  began 
throwing  stones  into  the  stream,  to 
frighten  the  fish  away  and  only  laughed 
at  the  boys  when  they  complained.  Fi- 
nally he  wandered  off,  and  a  little  later, 
I  saw  him  hitting  at  something  in  the 
grass  and  soon  he  came  back  holding  a 
little  dead  garter  snake  by  the  tail. 

Then  what  happened  was  dreadful.  I 
know  that  it  is  foolish  and  isn't  right, 
because  they  are  God's  creatures,  but  I 
can  hardly  bear  to  even  look  at  snakes, 


These  Are  My  Jewels 

and  it  always  seemed  to  me  that  the 
touch  of  one  would  kill  me.  I  screamed 
and  ran  when  Viggo  came  toward  me 
swinging  the  snake  and  threatening  me 
with  it,  and  that  only  made  him  worse. 
He  yelled  wildly  and  started  running 
after  me.  I  fairly  flew  into  the  field, 
away  from  the  bushes,  but  there  he  was 
running  close  behind  and  laughing 
hoarsely.  The  dreadful  creature  caught 
up  with  me  at  last  and  threw  the  snake 
around  my  neck! 

The  cold  horrid  touch!  I  shrieked  and 
turned  faint  as  the  thing  fell  off  and 
then  fell  down  myself  on  the  grass.  I 
was  fainting  I  thought.  I  sat  up  but  it 
was  all  I  could  do.  I  could  only  scream, 
and  just  then  I  saw  Jim  come  running 
from  the  creek. 

Jim  didn't  say  a  word  but  jumped  at 
Viggo  and  hit  him  as  hard  as  he  could 
and  in  a  moment  they  had  hold  of  each 
other  and  were  struggling  hard,  only  to 


A  Day  of  Adventure  33 

go  down  together,  with  Viggo  on  top, 
for  he  is  older  and  a  great  deal  bigger 
than  Jim.  And  then,  holding  Jim  down 
there,  Viggo  began  pounding  him  on  the 
nose  as  hard  as  he  could,  while  I  could 
only  keep  screaming. 

The  next  moment  I  heard  shouting 
and,  as  I  turned  my  head  I  saw  the  two 
Duncan  boys  come  running  and  yelling, 
each  with  stones  in  his  hands.  Viggo 
heard  them  too,  and  jumped  up  and,  as 
he  did  so,  a  stone  hit  him  in  the  side  and 
another  went  close  by  his  head.  He 
started  running  and  Jim  leaped  to  his 
feet  and  began  running,  too,  and  man- 
aged to  hit  him  once  more,  as  he  got 
over  the  fence. 

The  boys  came  back  panting  and 
helped  me  up  and  we  all  went  back  to 
the  creek.  I  helped  Jim  wash  his  face, 
but  his  nose  kept  on  bleeding  fright- 
fully. 

We  all   stood   by  the   water,  the  boys 


34  These  Are  My  Jewels 

talking  in  much  excitement,  and  all  the 
while  that  strange  younger  Slann  boy 
sat  there  on  the  middle  of  the  log  above 
the  creek,  never  saying  a  word.  Things 
quieted  down  a  little,  after  a  while,  and 
I  had  about  got  over  my  faint  feeling, 
when  I  saw  Max  start  to  get  up  from  the 
log  to  follow  his  brother.  He  had  hardly 
moved  when  I  screamed  again.  The 
bark  on  the  log  was  rotten  and  loose 
and,  as  Max  moved  a  little,  it  began  to 
turn  just  as  a  saddle  does  spmetimes  on 
a  horse  when  the  girth  that  goes  round 
isn't  drawn  up  tight  enough.  It  turned 
backward  and  Max  just  turned  backward 
with  it.  His  heels  shot  up  and  his  head, 
with  his  white  face,  went  back;  and 
downward  he  plunged  like  a  frog  into 
the  deep  water! 

There  was  a  great  splash  but  for  a 
moment  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen; 
then  Max  came  up  almost  in  front  of  us, 
gave  one  choking  kind  of  scream  and 


A  Day  of  Adventure  35 

•went  down  again  farther  from  us,  for  the 
stream  was  carrying  him  away. 

The  boys  stood  dazed  for  a  second  or 
two  and  then  Jim — I  shall  always  be 
proud  of  him  for  that — started  running 
down  the  creek.  There  was  a  bend  a 
little  way  below  where  the  bottom  was 
hard  and  pebbly  and  wide  and  the  water 
very  swift,  but  not  so  deep  as  it  was 
where  we  were.  At  the  broad  bend  it 
was  not  over  Jim's  head. 

He  got  there  ahead  of  Max  and  plunged 
into  the  water.  And  then,  the  next  mo- 
ment, Max  came  whirling  by  and  Jim 
grabbed  at  him  and  caught  him  by  the 
hair  and  so  dragged  him  out  upon  the 
bank. 

Max  wasn't  drowned  enough  yet  to  be 
senseless  but  he  lay  a  little  while  cough- 
ing and  gasping,  and  then  began  to  yell. 
The  boys  pacified  him  as  well  as  they 
could  and,  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to 
walk,  Jim  started  with  him  for  the 


36  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Slann  place,  an  old  shanty  not  far  off, 
beside  a  road  which  ran  down  into  the 
Flats  and  which  we  could  see  from 
where  we  were. 

We  four,  the  Duncan  boys,  Mary  and  I, 
waited  and  talked  about  all  that  had 
happened,  half  laughing  and  half  cry- 
ing, and  I  guess  I  was  almost  hysterical. 
Then  we  heard  a  yell  away  off,  arid 
looking  toward  the  Slann  Place,  we  saw 
Jim  running  away  from  the  house  with 
Mrs.  Slann  close  after  him!  I  don't 
suppose  I'm  as  good  a  judge  of  running 
as  a  boy  might  be,  but  it  seemed  to  me 
that  Jim  was  doing  himself  a  great  deal 
of  credit.  Papa  had  often  told  us  that 
when  anyone  did  a  thing  he  should  do 
it  with  all  his  might,  and  Jim  didn't 
appear  to  have  forgotten  a  word  of  what 
papa  had  said.  He  was  putting  all  his 
heart  into  it,  and  he  soon  left  Mrs.  Slann. 
She  didn't  follow  him  very  far,  and  we 
scurried  away  to  meet  him,  to  learn 


A  Day  of  Adventure  37 

what  was  the  matter!  One  side  of  Jim's 
face  was  very  red  and  his  coat  was  torn. 

"What  do  you  think!"  he  gasped,  as 
soon  as  he  got  a  little  breath.  "I  took 
Max  in  at  the  door  and  the  first  thing  he 
did  was  to  yell  out,  'He  pulled  my  hair!' 
Mrs.  Slann  just  looked  once  and  saw  his 
condition  and  then  she  jumped  for  me! 
She  slapped  my  face  and  tore  my  coat 
and  I  don't  know  what  she'd  have  done 
if  I  hadn't  been  a  daisy — which  I  am  — 
just  a  yellow  daisy!  I  ducked  and  got 
away  and  dodged  around  the  table  with 
all  the  dishes  on  it.  She  rushed  after 
me  again  and  we  slid  and  slipped  and 
then  —  I  don't  know  just  how  it  hap- 
pened—  we  tipped  over  the  table  and 
there  was  a  smash  and,  I  ducked  out  of 
the  door  and  outran  her!  Golly!" 

Oh,  but  we  were  mad!  To  think  that 
Jim  should  have  such  a  reward  for 
saving  a  woman's  boy  from  drowning! 
We  didn't  know  what  to  say  or  do.  The 


38  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Rat  said  he  was  sorry  Jim  had  pulled 
Max  out,  and  Sandy  said  he  was  going 
to  lay  for  Viggo  with  more  stones,  but 
of  course  that  wasn't  a  Christian  spirit, 
though  I  almost  wished  I  was  a  boy. 

It  was  nearly  six  now,  and  we  started 
for  home.  Jim's  nose  was  bleeding  again 
and  we  used  up  his  handkerchief  and 
mine  and  both  the  Duncan  boys'  and 
then  had  to  use  mullen  leaves  the  rest 
of  the  way  home.  When  mamma  saw 
Jim  she  didn't  say  anything  until  she 
had  taken  him  upstairs  to  be  washed 
and  get  clean  clothes.  He  came  down 
looking  all  right  except  that  his  nose 
was  as  big  as  a  grown  man's. 

Jim  and  I  were  anxious  to  talk  to 
mamma  about  the  ways  of  Providence. 
We  had  always  heard  they  were  mys- 
terious, and  now  we  believed  it. 

Here  was  Jim  getting  whipped  for 
saving  a  boy's  life,  and  that,  too,  by  the 
ungrateful  boy's  mother!  Jim  called  her 


A  Day  of  Adventure  39 

an  unnatural  parent,  and  I  could  not 
blame  him.  We  started  in  to  say  a  good 
deal  but  mamma  said  she  thought  we 
had  better  wait  and  that  we  would  be 
wise  to  quiet  down  and  forget  our 
wrongs  and  disgusts  for  a  little  while. 
"Remember"  she  said,  "that  whatever 
has  happened,  everything  will  come 
right:  'No  evil  shall  befall  you.'" 

You  ought  to  have  seen  Jim's  face  with 
its  swelled  nose,  as  mamma  repeated  that 
text! 

We  cooled  off  and  our  wrath  went 
down  a  little — dinner  was  extra  nice 
that  day — and  papa  smiled  when  he  saw 
Jim  eating  chicken  and  gravy  as  usual, 
though  his  face  was  pretty  red,  and 
you  could  see  he  had  been  crying.  Jim 
always  cries  when  he  is  mad,  but  when 
he  feels  sorry  he  says  he  can't  cry,  but 
his  Adam's  apple  just  swells  up  and 
almost  chokes  him. 

There   are   some   drawbacks  to  being 


40  These  Are  My  Jewels 

a  boy.  One  is  Adam's  apple  and  that 
choked-up  feeling  when  you  can't  cry. 

"Come,"  said  papa  at  last,  when  we 
were  all  sitting  out  on  the  west  porch 
looking  at  the  sunset,  "let  us  hear  the 
day's  adventures." 

I  went  over  and  sat  by  papa  and  Jim 
leaned  against  the  railing  and  told  about 
the  Slann  boys  and  their  mother — but 
he  began  at  the  end — and  papa  listened 
patiently  until  Jim  got  through.  Then 
I  told  all  about  the  snake  and  how  the 
trouble  began  in  the  first  place,  and  I 
could  see  mamma  shudder,  for  she  does 
not  like  snakes  any  more  than  I  do. 

Papa  didn't  say  anything  for  a  while 
after  I  got  through  talking,  and  his  face 
was  quite  grave. 

"You  do  seem  to  have  had  rather  an 
exciting  day  of  it,"  he  said  finally,  "and 
I  do  not  know  that  you  have  either  of 
you  done  what  I  can  disapprove  of.  As 
to  Jim's  attack  on  Viggo,  it  is  true  one 


A  Day  of  Adventure  41 

ought  to  be  patient  and  endure  a  good 
deal  when  only  he  himself  is  concerned, 
but  there  come  times  when  an  endeavor 
to  protect  others  is  a  duty.  Viggo  was 
doing  what  might  have  resulted  in 
something  very  serious  and  Jim  was 
right  in  doing  the  best  he  could.  The 
fact  that  he  got  licked  doesn't  matter. 
There  is  no  disgrace  in  being  beaten  at 
anything,  if  you  have  been  fearless  and 
have  done  your  best.  And,  Jim,  I'm 
very  proud  of  you  for  saving  Max.  That 
was  something  worth  while.  The  en- 
counter in  the  house  I'll  warrant  was  a 
mistake  of  some  sort.  I  do  not  believe 
that  Mrs.  -  — " 

And  just  then  there  was  a  clatter  at 
the  side  steps  of  the  porch  and  who 
should  come  almost  tumbling  up  but 
Mrs.  Slaiin  herself!  She  looked  dan- 
gerous, for  she  is  a  big  woman,  and  her 
hair  was  flying  every  way  and  her  eyes 
were  shining  and  her  face  was  red.  Jim 


42  These  Are  My  Jewels 

was  nearest  to  her  and  when  he  saw  her 
his  mouth  flew  open  and  staid  that  way. 
She  didn't  hesitate  at  all,  but  made  a 
dive  for  him.  Jim  yelled  and  ducked 
and  I  screamed  and  papa  and  mamma 
rose  to  their  feet. 

Mrs.  Slann  stood  still  for  a  moment 
and  then  rushed  up  to  mamma  and 
broke  out  talking  so  excitedly  and  so 
fast  and  in  such  broken  English  that,  at 
first,  I  couldn't  understand  her.  Then 
she  made  another  rush  at  Jim,  and  he 
went  over  the  railing  like  a  rabbit.  She 
reached  out  her  hands  toward  him  and 
almost  shrieked: 

"Oh,  my  poor  boy!  How  bad  womans 
I  was  to  lick  you! — but  I  knew  not  you 
was  saved  my  Max  from  the  water!" 

The  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks,  and 
mamma  took  her  rough,  red  hand  in  her 
own  white  ones,  and  told  the  poor  woman 
that  she  understood  her. 

Then  Mrs.  Slann  told  papa  and  mam- 


A  Day  of  Adventure  43 

ma  all  she  had  found  out,  how  she  had 
made  Viggo  tell  the  truth  when  he  came 
home,  and  had  got  a  new  story  from  Max 
himself,  and  so  learned  all  about  every- 
thing. Then  she  turned  to  look  once 
more  at  Jim,  who  had  ventured  on  the 
porch  again. 

"Ach!"  she  cried,  "Ach!"  Hees  poor 
nose!"  Then  she  brightened  up.  "But 
you  should  see  the  back  of  Viggo!  Hees 
fader  haf  been  mit  him  in  the  shed! 
And  the  foolish  Max  —  I  lam  him  well!" 
Then  she  made  another  grab  at  Jim  and 
caught  him,  for  he  wasn't  prepared,  only 
listening  to  her  with  all  his  ears.  She 
hugged  him  and  kissed  him  and  Jim 
twisted  and  squirmed  and  we  laughed 
until  we  were  almost  choked  and  when 
at  last  she  let  him  go  Jim's  face  was 
redder  than  Mrs.  Slann's. 

When  she  had  gone  there  wasn't  very 
much  left  of  our  story  to  tell,  but  we 
confessed  how  we  had  doubted  the  "ways 


44  These  Are  My  Jewels 

of  Providence  as  we  were  coming  home 
across  the  woods,  so  forlorn  and  beaten. 

"I  felt  that  God  was  for  me,"  said  Jim, 
"and  I  didn't  feel  afraid,  either  of  Viggo 
or  of  the  water,  but  I  caved  in  a  little 
when  Mrs.  Slann  got  after  me!" 

Papa  laughed  and  gave  me  a  hug,  for 
I  was  close  beside  him,  and  mamma 
laughed,  too,  but  I  was  still  a  little  upset 
by  the  events  of  the  day.  It  seemed  to 
me  I  could  feel  that  snake  around  my 
neck.  Jim  seemed  to  know  it. 

"Kit  feels  jarred  yet,"  he  whispered  to 
mamma. 

Then  I  tried  to  brighten  up,  and  I  told 
about  eating  the  ham  from  the  stick, 
and  they  laughed  and  mamma  said  that 
we  must  make  allowance  for  circum- 
stances in  all  things. 

"When  there  are  no  forks,  use  your 
fingers",  she  advised  and  papa  chimed 
in  "when  there  is  no  bridge  cross  the 
stream  as  best  you  can." 


A  Day  of  Adventure  45 

And  then  as  the  stars  came  out  we  all 
quieted  down,  and  papa  asked  us  to 
remember  the  experiences  of  this  day 
as  showing  that  things  are  all  right  in 
the  end,  and  he  told  us  not  to  set  our- 
selves up  as  judges,  or  as  critics  of 
Providence,  for  we  had  told  of  our  ques- 
tions and  doubts. 

"There  is  good  in  everything,"  said 
mamma,  "in  Viggo,  in  Max  and  in 
everyone  you  see.  If  you  do  your  best, 
and  love  everyone  and  try  to  help  them' 
all  will  come  out  right  in  the  end." 

When  we  had  repeated  our  texts  and 
said  our  prayers,  and  I  was  lying  in  my 
own  bed  I  wondered  if  I  had  brought 
some  of  the  troubles  of  the  day  upon  us 
by  being  so  afraid  of  the  snake  'which 
Viggo  Slann  threw  on  me.  I  made  up 
my  mind  to  resist  every  fear  and  to  try 
to  be  kind  to  Viggo  when  I  saw  him,  but 
I  thought  it  would  be  pretty  hard  to  do 
either  of  these  things. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"THE  RED  SWIPER." 

Nothing  much  happened  for  a  -week 
or  two  after  this.  Jim  and  I  got  along 
pretty  well  in  trying  to  live  in  the  new 
way,  then  vacation  came  and  we  had 
lots  of  time  on  our  hands.  Jim  con- 
cluded to  build  a  boat  and  sail  the 
raging  main  on  the  creek,  as  he  said, 
and  he  spent  a  lot  of  time  digging  it  out 
of  a  little  basswood  log.  He  shaped  it 
outside  finely  and  set  two  masts  in  it 
and  made  sails  and  rigging,  and  at  last 
all  was  ready  for  the  launching  where 
the  creek  spread  out  into  a  pond.  The 
Lane  and  the  Duncan  children  were  to 
be  with  us,  and  Mary  Duncan  was  to 
break  a  vial  of  currant  shrub  over  the 
front  of  the  ship  on  the  festal  occasion — 
which,  Jim  said,  was  to  be  "without  par- 

46 


The  Red  Swiper  47 

allel  in  the  annals  of  navaldoni."  I  guess 
he  had  read  something  like  that  some- 
where, for  it  didn't  sound  like  him. 

"Most  ships  are  called  "she",  but  this 
ship  was  to  be  a  man  of  war,  the  terror 
of  the  waves,  and  so  Jim  said  it  had  to 
be  a  "he."  His  name  was  the  "Red 
Swiper."  The  launching  had  been  set 
for  Friday  afternoon  and  everything  was 
ready,  but,  at  breakfast  that  morning, 
Jim  suddenly  stopped  eating  and  sat 
staring  at  me  with  a  dreadful  look  upon 
his  face.  I  was  alarmed  and  asked  him 
if  he  had  swallowed  something  the 
wrong  \^ay,  for  it  is  a  common  thing 
with  boys  to  try  to  get  food  down  the 
wrong  side  of  their  throats  and  then 
they  choke.  It  comes  from  eating  too 
fast.  But  Jim  was  not  choking. 

"We  can't  have  the  launching  today!" 
he  said. 

"Why  not?"  I  cried. 

"Why,"  he   exclaimed   excitedly,  "it's 


48  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Friday!  I  hadn't  thought  of  that.  You 
can't  launch  a  ship  on  Friday!  It's  not 
to  be  thought  of!" 

Jim  looked  perfectly  used  up  over  it 
and  I  was  sad  myself,  both  on  his 
account  and  the  disappointment  to  all 
of  us. 

"They'll  all  be -flabbergasted  when  they 
hear  that  the  launching  is  put  off,"  he 
said. 

I  thought  they  would,  too.  We  were  all 
ready  for  a  picnic  after  the  ceremonies 
and  I  -wondered  what  would  become  of 
the  sandwiches  and  frosted  cakes  and 
tarts  that  mamma  had  made  for  us. 

Of  course  I  needn't  have  worried  about 
the  good  things  to  eat,  for  there  is  never 
any  trouble  at  a  picnic  about  disposing 
of  them.  You  just  eat  'em,  no  matter 
"what  happens.  But  the  whole  thing 
seemed  all  flattened  out,  now  that  the 
unlucky  Friday  had  bobbed  up  at  the 
last  minute.  I  looked  at  papa  who  had 


The  Red  Swiper  49 

heard  what  we  were  saying.  He  was 
smiling,  though  I  thought  he  looked  a 
little  grave;  then  he  spoke: 

"I  am  disappointed  in  you,  Jim." 

"Why,  sir,"  said  Jim. 

"Because  you're  old  enough,  and  have 
been  taught  well  enough,  I  think,  not  to 
be  affected  by  any  foolish  superstition. 
You  believe  in  God  do  you  not?" 

"Yes,  papa,"  said  Jim. 

"Then  if  you  believe  in  God,  how  can 
you  believe  that  Friday  or  any  other  day 
can  be  unlucky?"  and  he  went  on: 

"There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  lucky  or 
an  unlucky  day  or  thing,  and  there  is 
nothing  that  you  can  do  which  is  lucky 
or  unlucky,  in  itself.  All  these  beliefs 
are  handed  down  from  a  superstitious 
and  ignorant  time  and  have  become  a 
sort  of  cowardly  habit.  To  cling  to  such 
ideas  shows  that  one  has  either  an  un- 
reasoning or  a  weak  mind.  There  are 
all  the  old  silly  things,  like  the  belief  of 


50 

the  foolish  that  Friday  is  an  unlucky 
day  or  that  to  spill  salt,  or  break  a 
mirror,  or  own  an  opal,  or  wear  a  certain 
ornament  either  promises  or  brings  mis- 
fortune of  some  sort,  or  that  to  make  a 
present  of  a  knife  or  any  sharp  instru- 
ment to  another  will  make  trouble  and 
'cut  friendship',  as  they  call  it,  or  that  to 
find  and  keep  a  horseshoe,  or  to  first  see 
the  moon  over  your  right  shoulder,  will 
bring  good  fortune,  instead.  They  are 
equally  silly  and  equally  wicked,  for 
they  imply  a  doubt  in  Him  on  whom 
we  rely  for  all  things.  Nothing  is  more 
absurd  and  strange  to  me  than  to  see 
really  honest  and  good  and  even  intelli- 
gent people,  who  worship  God,  some- 
times victims  of  these  superstitious 
fancies.  How  can  any  one  believe  in 
God  and  in  such  things,  too?  It  is  an 
insult  to  Him,  and  is  profane.  Does  not 
He  regulate  all  things?  There  are  other 
beliefs  just  as  wrong  and  ridiculous,  yet 


The  Fed  Swiper  51 

so  common  is  this  wicked  weakness 
that  many  people  make  a  living  by 
preying  upon  it.  There  are  those  who 
even  assume  to  foretell  the  future,  to 
say  what  God  will  do.  Some  call  them- 
selves astrologers  and  talk  about  the 
bodies  in  the  firmament,  though  they 
usually  know  little  of  astronomy. 
These  people  pretend  to  study  the 
planets  and  'cast  a  horoscope'  for  their 
dupes,  and  so  reveal  to  them  what  is  to 
come.  There  are  the  'palmists',  as  they 
call  themselves,  who  examine  the  lines 
in  the  palm  of  your  hands  and  pretend 
from  them  to  tell  your  character,  and 
how  long  you  will  live  and  what  is 
likely  to  happen  to  you.  There  are 
other  sorts  of  fortune-tellers,  such  as  the 
gypsies  and  their  imitators  in  various 
ways.  Well,  remember  this  all  your 
lives,  that  there  is  not  a  single  one  of 
these  people,  in  all  the  world,  who  is  not 
either  an  impostor  or  a  fool.  A  few  of 


52  These  Are  My  Jewels 

them  may  be  deluded  themselves,  but 
that  does  not  help  matters  any.  All 
that  is  going  to  happen  is  to  be  through 
God's  will  and  He  has  not  given  to  any 
human  being  the  slightest  power  to 
foretell  what  that  is  going  to  be,  nor  has 
he  made  it  possible  that  this  thing  is 
'lucky'  or  that  'unlucky'.  He  has  given 
us  laws,  though,  simple,  generous  laws, 
which  will  bring  us  good  fortune  if  we 
obey  them.  Do  not  fear.  Just  trust  in 
Him.  The  belief  in  good  or  bad  luck  or 
in  the  prophecies  of  "wicked  or  foolish 
persons  has  wrought  incalculable  evil 
in  the  world,  for  the  imaginations  of 
hosts  of  people  have  been  affected  and 
they  have  doubted  and  suffered  and 
been  weak  in  consequence  and,  so,  by 
their  own  course,  have  often  brought 
upon  themselves  the  very  ills  they  have 
so  dreaded.  We  do  know  that  the  mind 
affects  the  body,  and  that  the  mind  lack- 
ing in  hope  and  confidence  is,  in  a  way, 


The  Red  Swiper  53 

diseased.  There  is  no  excuse  for  that. 
Just  laugh  at  all  superstitions  and  all 
'lucky'  or  'unlucky'  things.  Just  lean  on 
Him  and  go  ahead,  in  confidence,  what- 
ever happens.  The  one  who  has  that 
faith  and  has  no  silly  superstitions  is 
calmer,  happier  and  stronger  than  the 
weak  and  wicked  people  who  believe  in 
the  slightest  degree  in  signs  and  luck 
and  fortune-telling.  It  is  a  commonplace 
way  of  explaining  it  to  you,  and  using  an 
expression  which  is  almost  like  slang, 
but  it  may  make  it  clearer  to  you,  to  say 
that  it  is  God  and  God  alone  who  is 
'running  things'.  To  believe  anything 
else,  or  to  act  as  if  you  believe  anything" 
else,  is  to  doubt  Him  and  commit  a 
crime  against  Him." 

Jim  had  been  listening  hard,  and  I 
saw  his  face  gradually  brighten  as  papa 
talked.  When  he  got  through  Jim  broke 
out: 

"That's  good,  papa!     That's  helped  me 


54  These  Are  My  Jewels 

lots!  I'm  not  going  to  believe  in  such 
things  after  this.  I'll  just  have  faith  and 
let  'er  go." 

"Then  Jim  turned  to  me:  "The  invita- 
tions won't  be  called  back"  he  said. 
"The  hour  of  three  o'clock  p.  m.,  this 
afternoon,  U.  S.  A.,  will  see  the  great 
ship,  Red  Swiper,  seek  the  water!" 

'"The  Red'— what?"  asked  papa,  and 
Jim  explained  and  papa  laughed. 

So  the  launching  came  off,  after  all, 
and  the  ceremonies  were  all  right.  Mary 
broke  the  bottle  on  the  front  end  of  the 
boat  and  called  out  "I  christen  thee  'Red 
Swiper'!"  as  the  boys  pushed  the  boat  in 
off  a  plank,  and  it  stood  up  and  sailed 
beautifully.  Being  a  war  ship,  it  had 
quite  a  big  toy  cannon  on  board,  such  as 
the  boys  fire  off  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 
It  was  loaded,  and  they  had  several 
charges  of  powder  more,  in  a  paper 
down  in  a  place  boarded  over  with  two 
shingles  and  which  they  called  the  hold. 


The  Red  Swiper  55 

They  said  war  ships  always  had  powder 
in  the  hold.  They  fixed  what  they  called 
a  slow  match,  which  was  made  of  the 
paper  that  sticks  out  of  the  end  of  the 
fire-crackers,  and  they  fixed  this  to  the 
big  end  of  the  cannon  and  lighted  it  just 
before  the  ship  started.  He  had  sailed 
about  half  way  across  the  pond  when 
the  cannon  went  off,  and  there  was  a  lot 
of  smoke,  and  the  ship  rocked  fright- 
fully, but  he  didn't  tip  over,  and  the 
boys  shouted. 

"He's  a  staunch  and  powerful  craft!" 
yelled  Johnny  Lane,  who  is  smaller  than 
the  other  boys  and  not  so  strong,  but 
who  reads  almost  everything  he  can 
get  hold  of  and  uses  some  awfully  big 
words. 

Jim  went  up  the  creek  and  across  a 
long  plank  which  had  been  laid  for  a 
bridge  by  somebody  and  brought  the 
ship  back  in  his  arms  and  then  we  had 
lunch,  which  didn't  take  long,  for  the 


56  These  Are  My  Jewels 

boys  ate  as  if  they  hadn't  had  anything 
to  eat  since  Christmas.  Jim  went  into 
the  bushes  to  cut  a  longer  stick  with 
which  to  poke  the  ship  farther  away 
from  shore  when  they  started  him  again 
and  then  the  boys  played  a  trick  on  him. 
Sandy  took  a  little  black  flag  from  his 
pocket,  which  he  had  brought  along  on 
purpose,  with  a  dreadful  picture  of  a 
skull  and  two  bones  crossed  underneath, 
and  then  they  took  off  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  and  put  the  Black  Flag  on 
instead,  and  loaded  the  gun  and  fixed 
the  match  and  pushed  the  boat  off  in  a 
hurry,  just  as  Jim  came  running  back 
with  the  long  stick  he  had  cut. «  Sandy 
and  the  Rat  gave  three  cheers  for  what 
they  called  the  Pirate  King,  and  Johnny 
Lane  didn't  do  anything  but  lie  down  on 
the  ground  and  kick  up  his  heels  and 
keep  yelling,  "Blood!"  At  first  Jim  came 
near  getting  angry  but,  at  last,  he  took 
it  good-naturedly  and  began  to  laugh 
with  the  rest. 


The  Red  Swiper  57 

The  noble  vessel  sailed  on  finely  until 
it  got  far  out  in  the  pond  and  then  the 
wind  got  to  be  mild  and  he  stood  almost 
still.  Then  the  gun  went  off  and,  almost 
the  next  instant,  there  was  a  great  flash 
and  a  lot  of  smoke,  and  the  shingle  top 
of  the  hold  rose  away  up  in  the  air,  and 
there  were  waves  around  the  vessel  and 
we  could  see  it  tossing  all  about  in  the 
midst  of  the  smoke.  Pretty  soon  the 
smoke  went  away  and  the  waves  died 
down,  and  there  was  the  vessel  standing 
up  straight  and  all  right,  as  if  nothing 
had  happened.  Only  we  could  see  that 
the  Black  Flag  had  caught  fire  and 
burned  away.  Then  the  wind  suddenly 
grew  stronger  and  changed  and  the  Red 
Swiper  came  sailing  right  toward  us 
and  up  to  the  shore.  Jim  -was  in  an 
ecstasy.  "He  wouldn't  be  a  pirate!"  he 
shouted.  "You  bet  he  wouldn't;  and  so 
he  came  sailing  home  to  get  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  again!"  and  all  the  boys 


58  These  Are  My  Jewels 

cheered  the  ship  once  more  and  Johnny 
Lane  declared  that  he  was  "a  gallant 
craft,  who  seemed  enbowed  with  almost 
human  intelligence." 

We  sailed  the  Red  Swiper  several 
times  again  and  Johnny  Lane,  who  has 
learned  "Casablanca"  and  spoken  it  at 
school,  was  wishing  the  boat  was  bigger 
so  that  they  could  put  the  Rat  on  board 
and  set  fire  to  it  and  then  say,  "The  boy, 
O,  where  was  he!"  but  the  Rat  didn't 
seem  to  like  the  idea,  and  Johnny  said 
he  hadn't  got  a  hero  spirit. 

I  don't  remember  ever  having  enjoyed 
an  afternoon  more.  It  was  a  splendid 
launchingpev«n  if  it  was  on  Friday,  and 
we  all  went  home  contented. 

That  evening,  after  we  got  back,  Jim 
went  down  town  with  the  boys  and 
when  he  came  back  he  made  me  a 
present  of  a  beautiful  pair  of  little  scis- 
sors I  had  wanted,  and  I  didn't  give 
him  a  penny  to  keep  them  from  "cutting 
friendship,"  either! 


CHAPTER  IV. 

• 

A  WHOLESOME   NEW  PRESENCE. 

With  vacation  going  right  along,  we 
children  had  a  great  deal  of  fun,  for  we 
were  out  *on  some  expedition  almost 
every  day.  To  make  things  better  still, 
Uncle  Fred  came.  Uncle  Fred  Rath- 
burne  is  mamma's  brother,  and  one  of 
the  best  uncles  that  ever  lived.  He  is 
twenty-eight  years  old  and  he  is  a 
lawyer  in  the  big  city  and  papa  says 
he  is  a  good  one.  He  is  a  bachelor  and 
Jim  and  I  think  everything  of  him,  for 
he  joins  in  with  us  in  every  kind  of  fun. 
He  is  a  straight,  curly-haired  man,  very 
good  looking,  I  think,  and  he  laughs 
with  his  eyes  as  much  as  papa  does 
with  his  mouth.  He  is  fine. 

When  Uncle  Fred  was  with  us  a  year 
ago  we  children  didn't  see  as  much  of 

59 


60  These  Are  My  Jewels 

him  as  this  time,  because  he  was  a  good 
deal  with  Miss  Louise  Nesbit,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Colonel  Nesbit,  who  lives  at  the 
other  end  of  town.  He  was  at  her  house 
very  often  in  the  evening  and  in  the 
daytime  they  used  to  go  out  riding  to- 
gether all  over  the  country.  We  couldn't 
very  well  blame  Uncle  Fred,  even  if  we 
didn't  see  so  much  of  him  as  in  most 
years  when  he  had  been  with  us;  for, 
certainly,  Miss  Nesbit  is  very  dainty  and 
pretty,  though  I  think  she  is  more  dig- 
nified than  most  of  the  Merrivale  young 
ladies.  She  has  gray  e}7es  and  brown 
hair  and  is  tall  and  stately,  but  she  is  as 
kind  as  she  can  be.  I  like  her,  and  it 
seems  a  shame  everything  isn't  right 
with  her  and  Uncle  Fred;  they'd  make 
such  a  splendid  couple.  I  don't  know 
what  was  the  matter,  for  we  thought 
they  were  engaged  and  that  Uncle  Fred 
and  she  would  get  married,  but  there 
must  have  been  some  awful  tragedy,  for, 


A  Wholesome  Presence  61 

a  little  while  before  Uncle  Fred  went 
away,  he  stopped  going  to  see  her  and 
all  seemed  to  be  over  between  them.  It 
is  sad  to  ponder  upon.  Uncle  Fred  didn't 
look  very  well  when  he  went  away,  but 
this  year  he  seems  better. 

He  came  from  the  railroad  station  in  a 
'bus,  in  the  afternoon,  and  we,  mamma 
and  I,  ran  down  the  steps  to  meet  him. 
He  kissed  mamma  and  then  caught  me 
up  in  his  arms  with  a  shout  and  kissed 
me  half  a  dozen  times,  which  made  me 
seem  very  undignified.  For  a  girl  soon 
to  be  twelve  to  be  held  like  a  baby  and 
kissed  on  the  street  is  absurd;  but  I 
didn't  think  of  it,  I  was  so  glad,  and  I 
kissed  him  back,  of  course.  Later,  papa 
and  Jim  came  and  we  had  a  jolly  even- 
ing together.  Jim  and  I  told  Uncle  Fred 
about  what  we  were  trying  to  do  in  the 
New  Thought  and  he  was  delighted  and 
said  he'd  try  to  help  us,  for  he  thinks  as 
papa  and  mamma  do  about  such  things, 


62  These  Are  My  Jewels 

though  he  is  so  full  of  spirits  sometimes 
you  would  suppose  he  couldn't  take  any- 
thing in  the  world  in  earnest. 

The  next  morning  there  was  a  time! 
Uncle  Fred  kissed  mamma  when  she 
came  down  to  breakfast  and  then  turned 
to  me,  for  I  had  just  come  down,  too.  I 
got  behind  a  chair  and  told  him,  quite 
severely,  that  it  was  not  proper  for 
uncles,  particularly  one  who  didn't  have 
gray  hair,  to  kiss  nieces  as -of  ten  as  their 
fathers  and  mothers  did,  and  he  looked 
very  much  astonished.  He  said  that 
there  must  be  some  new  law,  for  he 
recollected  most  of  the  old  law  very 
well,  because  it  had  been  put  into  poetry, 
and  it  recommended  kissing,  sometimes, 
even  when  the  one  wasn't  your  niece. 
"I'll  show  you  just  how  part  of  it  goes," 
he  said,  and  then  he  suddenly  sat  down 
at  the  piano  and  began  singing: 


A  Wholesome  Presence  63 

Beg  your  pardon,  Miss  Maloney,  for  the  way 
in  which  I've  acted; 

I  am  sorry,  sorry,  sorry,  for  appearing  so  dis- 
tracted. 

I've  been  simple  as  a  loon, 
I've  been  looking  at  the  moon, 

But  I've  come  back  to  my  senses;    O,    who 
wouldn't  do  it,  when 

It  is  half-past  kissing-time,  and  time  to  kiss 
again! 

Beg  your   pardon,   Miss   Maloney,  but  your 

eyes  are  dazzling,  quite  so. 
How  I  wonder,  wonder,  wonder,  that  I  saw 

another  light  so! 
But  I  am  no  longer  blind, 
I'm  returning  to  my  mind. 
I  am  glowing  with  a  purpose;  I'm  the  happiest 

of  men, 
For  it's  half -past  kissing-time,  and  time  to  kiss 

again ! 

Beg  your  pardon,   Miss  Maloney,  would  you 
have  me  getting  haggard  ? 

You  were  cruel,  cruel,  cruel,  that  you  let  me 

be  a  laggard. 
Just  a  word  and  then  a  pout 


64  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Would  have  served  without  a  doubt, 
And  I  wouldn't  have  been  silly,  like  a  hes- 
itating hen, 

When  'twas  half-past  kissing-time,  and  time 
to  kiss  again! 

Beg  your  pardon,   Miss  Maloney,  It's  myself 

that  I  am  kicking, 
And  I  linger,  linger,  linger,  though  I  hear 

the  clock  a-ticking. 
O,  my  fascinating  friend, 
It  is  ne'er  too  late  to  mend; 
And  I'm  nearing,  as  I  chatter  like  a  bluejay 

in  the  glen, 
For  it's  half- past  kissing-time,  and  time  to  kiss 

again. 

And  then,  after  singing  that  astonish- 
ing song,  Uncle  Fred  caught  and  kissed 
me  and  mamma  laughed  and  told  us  to 
come  to  breakfast,  while  I  lectured  him 
on  his  impertinent  familiarity.  I  think 
"impertinent  familiarity"  is  a  pretty 
good  expression,  but  it  didn't  seem  to 
affect  Uncle  Fred  any.  He's  nice. 

But  Uncle  Fred  isn't  all  that  is  going 


A  Wholesome  Presence  65 

on.  Jim  and  I  have  been  having  trouble, 
though  it  hasn't  been  so  awfully  serious 
as  it  might  be.  It  has  been  partly  over 
our  backs  and  partly  over  Jim's  goat, 
Bildad  —  for  Jim  bought  a  goat  lately 
from  the  Slann  boys,  who  are  quite 
decent  now  —  but  our  backs  were  the 
worst.  You  see  we  are  both  growing 
dreadfully  fast:  it  is  just  the  age  mam- 
ma says;  and,  somehow,  we  both  got  to 
stooping  a  little,  when  we  walked  or  sat 
•at  table.  Finally  papa  noticed  it  and 
said  he  wasn't  going  to  have  a  round- 
shouldered  boy  or  girl  around  his  house. 
Some  people  might  like  that  kind  but  he 
always  preferred  boys  and  girls  straight 
up  and  down.  Of  course  that  was  all  in 
fun,  but  it  did  not  take  us  long  to"  find 
out  that  papa  meant  business.  That 
night  he  said  he  wanted  to  talk  on 
"backbones"  after  supper,  and  Jim  said: 
"I  hope  we  haven't  got  to  be  harnessed 
up  like  the  Menier  family.  They  are  so 


66  These  Are  My  Jewels 

strapped  and  buckled  that  I  should 
think  they'd  snap  if  they  fell  in  climb- 
ing a  fence,  and  they  don't  seem  to 
laugh  right,  because  the  laughing  place 
is  getting  new  muscles."  Papa  just 
smiled. 

When  we  were  settled  down  after  sup- 
per Jim  was  lying  flat  on  his  back  on 
•what  he  calls  the  "Prayer  Rug — "  for 
he's  read  how  devout  men  in  the  far 
away  Kast  have  special  rugs  for  praying 
on,  and  declares  he  feels  better  on  his 
than  anywhere  else  and  thinks  better 
without  knowing  it.  Mamma  says  those 
things  do  help  by  "association  of  ideas," 
and  she  always  lets  Jim  bring  out  that 
rug  when  we  are  out  for  one  of  our  talks 
for  mamma  does  not  think  anything  is 
too  good  for  use.  Papa  began: 

"I  think  I  may  tell  you  that  mamma 
and  I  are  more  than  satisfied  with  the 
progress  you  children  are  making  in 
what  we  call  New  Thought,  though  that 


A  Wholesome  Presence  67 

term  is  misleading,  for  truth  is  never 
new,  and  this  'Broader  Thought/  or 
'Higher  Thought/  or  'New  Thought'  is 
only  old  truths  re-taught  as  Christ 
taught  when  he  was  upon  earth — and  is 
really  'Science  of  Life' — or  'Science  of 
Being' — and  now  we'll  begin  on  'back- 
bones': 

"You  find  that  breathing  long  deep 
regular  breaths  comes  easy,  now,  do  you 
not?" 

We  both  said,  "Yes." 

"Remember  always  that  your  body  is 
your  engine,  blackboard,  or  anything 
that  you  like  to  compare  it  to  that  can 
be  controlled  by  thought  or  registered 
upon,  and  the  braces  I  propose  to  put  on 
you  to  straighten  your  backbones,  are 
mental  braces,  with  the  most  approved 
kind  of  buckles  and  straps  in  the  way  of 
words,  that  you  ever  thought  of.  They 
will  prove  so  powerful  that  there  will  be 
no  more  chance  of  a  crook  or  bend  in  the 


68  These  Are  My  Jewels 

spinal  column,  than  there  would  be  of  a 
bluejay  having  rheumatism. 

"In  the  morning,  when  you  first 
awaken,  get  out  of  bed  quickly,  turn  to 
the  East,  as  a  salutation  to  another  day 
of  good,  we'll  say; — that  will  impress  the 
hour  on  you;  stand  like  a  West  Pointer; 
that  means,  erect;  inhale  slowly  with 
special  thought  directed  to  the  perfect 
form  of  your  backbone,  or  spinal  column; 
see  it  straight  upright,  in  your  mind,  a 
good  pillar  in  the  temple  of  the  living 
God,  your  body,  and  then  exhale  slowly, 
with  a  thanksgiving,  as  well  as  you  can 
think,  that  you  are,  in  your  real  being, 
perfect,  whole  and  complete.  Do  this 
ten  times,  morning  and  night,  for  the 
first  week,  turning  to  the  West  at  night, 
not  because  the  East  or  West  will  make 
any  difference  in  your  spiritual  growth, 
but  because  you  follow  the  earthly  or 
physical  sun,  and  by  thinking  of  divine 
love  as  'the  sun  of  my  world'  you  get 


A  Wholesome  Presence  69 

into  sympathy  with  all  that  is  high  and 
good  and  perfect.  Compare  the  physical 
world  to  the  divine  world,  make  them 
one,  as  they  really  are — you  may  get  up 
your  own  symbols,  if  it  will  make  things 
plainer  to  you — but  be  regular.  Several 
times  during  the  day,  breathe  long,  and 
think  straight.  We  will  talk  of  this 
again  in  a  week. 

"Our  bodies  are  temples  not  made 
with  hands,  and  to  us  is  given  power  to 
keep  them  perfect  as  they  were  made  in 
the  beginning,  but  we  must  do  so  quietly 
and  in  order,  that  no  sound  of  the  'ham- 
mer be  heard  in  the  land'.  Make  your 
own  ideal, — that  is,  what  you  want  to  be, 
—high,  then  build  up  to  it. 

"You  cannot  build  higher  than  your 
ideal,  so  make  it  high,  beautiful,  strong 
and  good.  You  are  the  plant  that  your 
thoughts  must  water  and  nourish,  and 
your  body  will  tell  by  its  growth  and 
beauty  if  you  have  enriched  the  land 


70  These  Are  My  Jewels 

with  good  nourishment.  Deep-breath- 
ing, right-thinking,  temperate  living, 
and,  I  will  add,  good-temper — though 
that  is  hardly  necessary,  since  the  first 
three  will  make  the  last  a  certainty — 
and  you  "will  find  life  a  victory." 

Jim  seemed  to  understand.  When  papa 
stopped  talking,  and  no  one  spoke  for 
awhile,  then  Jim  said,  "I  believe  I  can 
'concentrate',  after  this.  I'll  just  let  Jim 
the  First  out  and  give  Jim  the  Second  a 
chance  in  his  kingdom.  I've  got  it!" 

That  was  very  fine  language,  for  Jim. 
Pie's  funny,  but  he  gave  me  the  idea  too, 
and  we  knew  that  papa  and  mamma 
were  satisfied,  their  eyes  looked  so 
bright,  yet  so  moist. 

And  so  we  began  doing  what  papa  had 
told  us  and,  a^ter  a  few  days,  or,  maybe, 
it  was  two  or  three  weeks,  we  found  our- 
selves growing  up  straight,  naturally.  It 
made  us  think  of  the  time  when  we  were 
only  seven  and  eight  years  old,  when 


A  Wholesome  Presence  71 

papa  taught  us  to  swim,  for  he  said  that 
was  what  every  boy  and  girl  should  cer- 
tainly  learn  to  do,  not  only  on  their  own 
account  but  for  the  sake  of  others.  We 
were  pretty  shaky  at  first,  though  it  was 
summer  and  the  water  in  the  pond  was 
warm,  but  papa  taught  us  so  gently, 
little  by  little,  that  we  soon  got  over  our 
fears  and  now,  in  my  bathing  suit,  I 
don't  care  how  deep  the  water  is.  Jim 
can  swini  with  all  his  clothes  on. 

The  deep-breathing  -was  only  fun  and 
we  began  and  kept  it  up  without  any 
trouble,  only,  pretty  soon,  it  got  to  be 
such  a  habit  that  we  didn't  stop  at 
twenty  times  a  day  but  did  it  very  often 
without  thinking,  and  we  do  it  yet.  I 
know  it  is  good  for  us.  Jim's  chest  is 
quite  a  lot  bigger  round  already. 

It  was  Bildad,  though,  who  furnished 
the  most  excitement.  I  don't  know  how 
Jim  ever  came  to  buy  him,  unless  it  is 
because  he  likes  to  trade.  Jim  had  a  lot 


72  These  Are  My  Jewels 

of  things,  a  pair  of  skates,  almost  as 
good  as  new,  which  he  didn't  care  for 
because  he  has  got  a  better  pair,  and  a 
fishing  rod  which  joined  together,  and 
things  like  that,  and  Viggo  Slann  said 
he  would  let  him  have  the  goat  for  the 
things,  and  a  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  extra.  Viggo  said  the  goat  was 
worth  more  but  his  mother  had  got  a 
prejudice  against  him  and  would  set  the 
dog  on  him  whenever  he  came  near  the 
house,  and  so  they'd  concluded  to  let 
him  go  cheap.  "He's  a  peaceable  goat," 
Viggo  said,  "and  you  needn't  look  out 
for  him  except  when  he  bla-ats.  He  isn't 
afraid  of  anything  but  a  dog." 

Finally  Jim  concluded  to  make  the 
trade,  so  he  borrowed  a  dollar  and  a 
quarter  from  Uncle  Fred  without  saying 
what  he  wanted  it  for,  and  gave  the 
money  and  the  things  to  Viggo  and, 
between  them,  they  brought  the  goat 
tied  by  a  rope  and  turned  him  into  the 


A  Wholesome  Presence  73 

pasture  back  of  the  barn,  where  he  could 
have  wholesome  and  invigorating  food- 

The  goat  was  the  biggest  one  I  had 
ever  seen,  though  he  seemed  awfully 
thin.  He  had  little  bits  of  horns  which 
leaned  back  and  his  whole  color  was  a 
kind  of  dirty  black  and  white.  His  beard 
reached  almost  to  the  ground.  Jim  was 
going  to  name  him  "His  Whiskers"  at 
first,  but  finally  changed  to  Bildad, 
which  I  think  much  better.  Jim  told 
papa  and  Uncle  Fred  about  his  trade 
but  they  didn't  say  much,  even  when 
Jim  explained  how  useful  the  goat 
might  be  as  company  to  Jake  Heinrichs, 
about  the  barn. 

For  two  or  three  days,  Bildad  didn't 
seem  to  do  anything  but  eat.  He  nibbled 
at  the  grass  and  the  hay  in  the  barn  and 
at  the  bushes  and  swelled  out  in  the 
middle  like  a  barrel.  Then  he  began  to 
show  what  Johnny  Lane  said  was  real 
animation.  One  evening,  when  Jake 


74  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Heinrichs  was  milking  our  cow  —  her 
name  is  Angelina — and  I  was  looking 
on,  Bildad  came  up  playfully  and  began 
chewing  at  the  tail  of  Jake's  old  coat 
and  Jake  gave  him  a  rap  on  the  nose. 
The  goat  went  off  a  little  way  and  stood 
shaking  his  head,  as  if  he  "was  thinking 
and  disappointed  over  something.  Then 
Bildad  gave  a  bleat,  but  Jake  paid  no 
attention  to  him;  and  then  he  started  on 
the  jump,  Jake  not  noticing,  and,  when 
Bildad  struck  him  he  somehow  seemed 
to  well  up  a  little  and  then  shot  forth 
under  the  cow,  and  lay  in  the  grass  with 
the  milk  all  over  him.  He  jumped  to 
his  feet  and  chased  Bildad  with  the 
milking-stool,  but  couldn't  catch  him. 
Jake  Heinrichs  said  a  great  many  loud 
words,  and  I  am  glad  they  were  all  in 
German. 

Since  that  time,  something  has  hap- 
pened with  Bildad  almost  every  day. 
One  afternoon  little  Jennie  Maddern, 


A  Wholesome  Presence  75 

who  lives  a  little  way  off,  was  crossing 
the  pasture  and  Bildad  chased  her  until 
she  got  on  top  of  a  big  stump,  and  he 
kept  her  there  until  evening  when  Jake 
went  after  the  cow.  He  ate  a  book  Jim 
had  left  in  the  barn,  and  chewed  some  of 
the  harness.  Jim  tried  to  lick  him  with 
a  big  switch  and  had  to  get  over  the 
fence  himself.  He  says  he  will  tame 
Bildad's  proud  spirit  yet,  but  I  have  a 
presentiment  something  serious  is  going 
to  happen. 

And  all  this  time  Uncle  Fred  makes 
things  pleasant  for  us.  We  are  going 
into  the  woods  and  fields  with  him  soon. 
He  has  not  seen  Miss  Nesbit  since  they 
met  in  the  road.  I  am  sure  of  that, 
and,  sometimes,  he  is  very  quiet,  but  he 
doesn't  speak  of  her.  He  has  made  me 
learn  his  queer  song  and  it  is  running 
in  my  head  about  half  the  time.  It  is 
either: 


76  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Beg  your  pardon,  Miss  Maloney, 
or — 

It's  half-past  kissing- time,  and  time  to  kiss 
again. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  WONDERFUL  NEW  WORLD. 

The  trip  into  the  fields  with  Uncle 
Fred  came  off  at  last,  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  I  shall  never  be  the  same  girl  again, 
I  learned  so  much  that  morning.  There 
is  another  world  which  I  knew  almost 
nothing  about  and  yet  I  have  been  living 
all  the  time  right  in  the  middle  of  it.  I 
must  have  been  blind. 

Uncle  Fred  told  Jim  and  me  that  he 
wanted  to  introduce  us  to  many  of  the 
best  people  in  the  world,  whom  we 
didn't  seem  to  have  ever  met  and, 
surely,  he  kept  his  word.  We  started 
out,  just  after  an  early  breakfast,  when 
the  dew  was  yet  on  the  grass,  though 
the  sun  was  shining  brightly,  and  it 
was  decided  that  the  trip  should  be  only 
along  a  path  which  winds  through  a  big 

77 


78  These  Are  My  Jewels 

field  close  to  the  woods  and  then  back 
again  the  same  way.  The  field  is  a  sort 
of  rude  pasture  which  has  never  been 
thoroughly  cleared  yet,  and  there  are 
hosts  of  bushes  and  thickets  and  stumps 
and  the  dry  stubs  of  trees.  In  some 
places  there  is  white  clover  in  the  clear 
spots  and  in  others  only  short  weeds. 
The  bees  were  beginning  to  hum  among 
the  clover  when  we  got  into  the  field 
and  the  leaves  of  the  bushes  and  the 
woods  near  by  looked  wonderf  ully  bright 
and  green  in  the  early  sunshine. 

Uncle  Fred  said  he  wasn't  going  to 
tell  us  anything  on  our  way  across  the 
field,  but  that  we  were  to  call  attention 
to  every  living  thing  we  saw.  Of  course 
we  kept  a  sharp  lookout. 

It  was  Jim  who  saw  something  first, 
for  he  called  out  that  there  was  a  red- 
headed woodpecker  on  an  old  stub,  as 
indeed  there  was.  Then  I  saw  a  robin 
and  a  bluejay  and  Jim  saw  a  hawk  and 


A  Wonderful  New  World  79 

a  crow,  overhead,  and  the  game  got  to 
be  exciting.  The  path  across  the  field 
was  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long 
and  when  we  reached  the  end  we  had 
seen  eleven  birds  in  all  and  I  was  one 
ahead.  There  was  one  bird  whose  name 
I  couldn't  tell,  and  Jim  didn't  know  it, 
either,  but  Uncle  Fred  said  it  was  a 
black-breasted  bunting. 

When  we  started  to  go  back  Uncle 
Fred  said:  "Now,  I'll  do  the  looking,' 
and  we  had  walked  but  a  few  yards 
when  he  stooped  and  pointed  out  in  the 
bushes  a  slate-colored  bird  with  a  dark 
head;  it  soon  made  a  noise  almost  like 
a  cat's  mewing,  and  then  flew  up  into  a 
little  tree  and  began  to  sing  beautifully. 
It  was  a  catbird.  This  was  only  the  be- 
ginning. 

From  a  big  open  space,  something 
called  out,  loud  and  sweet,  what  sounded 
like:  "I  see  you!  I  see  you!"  and  that 
was  a  meadow  lark,  and  then,  from  a 


80  These  Are  My  Jewels 

green  tree  top  came  a  note  like  a  flute's, 
only  richer,  and  there,  amid  the  green 
leaves,  was  slipping  about  a  beautiful 
orange  and  black  thing,  the  Baltimore 
oriole.  And  so  it  went  on;  birds  seemed 
everywhere,  all  because  Uncle  Fred  had 
eyes  to  see. 

The  creek  ran  through  the  field  and 
we  stopped  by  it  for  a  few  minutes  and 
he  told  us  of  the  three  kinds  of  -what  we 
had  called  black-birds.  There  were  some 
running  along  close  by  the  water  and 
these,  Uncle  Fred  said,  were  grackles. 
They  were  quite  large  birds  of  a  purple 
and  greenish  black  color.  Then,  out  on 
a  little  island  with  bushes  and  cat-tails 
on  it,  was  another  kind,  with  a  bright 
spot  on  its  wings,  and  this  was  the  red- 
winged  blackbird.  Back  in  the  field  we 
had  seen  a  lot  of  rather  brownish  black- 
birds, on  the  ground,  and  these  Uncle 
Fred  said  were  cowbirds,  and  he  told  us 
why  the  other  birds  despised  them.  He 


A  Wonderful  New  World  81 

said  the  male  cowbird  was  a  polygamist, 
having  any  number  of  wives,  while  the 
ladies  of  his  family  had  simply  no  char- 
acter at  all,  as  home-makers.  The  female 
doesn't  make  any  nest,  but,  seeks  out  the 
nest  of  some  smaller  bird,  and  lays  an 
egg  or  two  in  it.  This  means  a  tragedy, 
for  the  young  cowbird,  when  hatched,  is 
bigger  than  the  other  young  in  the  nest, 
and  gets  most  of  the  food  brought  by 
the  parent  birds,  and  so  the  other  poor 
little  young  things  often  starve  to  death. 
In  some  parts  of  the  country  the  cow- 
bird  is  called  "cow-catbird"  or  ''cow- 
bunting".  That  word,  bunting,  is  quite 
new  to  me,  but  it  seems  common  in 
Bird-land. 

So  Uncle  Fred  went  on,  telling  us 
things  that  opened  our  eyes,  every 
minute.  He  said  the  Baltimore  oriole 
was  named  that  way  because  the  colors, 
or  livery,  of  an  English  nobleman  named 
Lord  Baltimore  were  orange  and  black 


82  These  Are  My  Jewels 

so  the  early  settlers  named  the  bird 
after  him.  Then  Uncle  Fred  showed 
us  a  kingbird,  or  "bee-martin",  as  some 
people  call  it,  and  there  is  a  bird  worth 
while! 

"He  is  great,"  said  Uncle  Fred.  "He  is 
the  defender  of  the  other  birds.  Let  a 
hawk  hover  over  the  thicket,  creating 
a  panic  among  the  feathered  people,  and 
note  what  the  kingbird  does.  He  doesn't 
hide  as  the  others  do.  Not  he.  He  flashes 
out — often  accompanied  by  his  mate, — 
and  mounts  upward,  looking  for  the 
enemy.  Away  up  in  midair  the  ma- 
rauder is  found,  and  then  ensues  a 
preposterous  combat.  No  hawk  can 
catch  one  of  those  feathered  electric 
sparks  and  the  kingbird  cannot  kill,  or 
even  disable,  the  hawk.  They  flash 
about  him,  they  pick  at  the  top  of  his 
head;  they  alight  between  the  wings 
and  tug  at  the  feathers;  their  keen  bills 
pierce  every  exposed  spot.  The  bird- 


A  Wonderful  New  World  83 

hunting  monster  seeks  in  vain  to  seize 
upon  those  little  pieces  of  'greased  light- 
ning/ and  finally,  in  despair,  abandons 
all  thought  of  a  meal  in  the  locality  they 
thus  protect.  That's  your  kingbird.'' 

It  was  like  a  fairy  story.  Suddenly  a 
large,  dark  bird  flitted  from  close  beside 
us  and  Uncle  Fred  stepped  aside  to  a 
place  "where  the  ground  was  hard  and 
gray,  and  showed  us  two  great  mottled 
eggs  lying  on  the  bare  earth.  They 
were  the  eggs  of  a  whippoorwill,  though 
the  only  nest  was  a  smooth  bit  of  earth. 
Maybe  it  was  the  husband  of  this  same 
whippoorwill  whose  call  we  had  heard 
so  often  at  night.  Before  we  had  reached 
the  beginning  of  the  great  pasture  again, 
Uncle  Fred  had  showed  us  quite  a  host 
of  other  birds.  There  were  the  yellow- 
hammer  or  "high-holder",  as  he  is  some- 
times called,  the  phoebe,  the  killdee,  the 
waxwing,  or  "cherry  bird",  the  goldfinch 
— though  we  always  call  him  the  yellow- 


84  These  Are  My  Jewels 

bird  or  "wild  canary", — a  little  snipe  and 
a  kingfisher,  near  the  creek;  when  we 
crossed  it  again  at  the  bend,  a  bluebird, 
swallows  and  purple  martins,  flying 
above  us;  a  quail,  which  was  whistling 
softly  on  a  top  rail  of  the  fence,  and  four 
kinds  of  sparrows,  the  song  sparrow,  the 
vesper  sparrow,  the  ground  sparrow  and 
the  chipping  sparrow.  All  these  birds 
in  one  field,  and  Uncle  Fred  said  we  had 
not  seen  half  those  which  were  about  us 
all  the  time  in  summer.  We  saw  a  red 
squirrel  and  a  chipmunk,  too,  and  a 
woodchuck,  which  dived  into  its  hole  in 
a  sandy  place  in  a  clover  field  next  the 
pasture. 

Of  each  bird  and  animal,  Uncle  Fred 
told  us  the  story,  how  each  one  lived 
and  what  its  ways  were,  and  of  the 
strange  and  interesting  things  which 
happen  in  the  lives  of  these  people  of 
outdoors.  Somehow,  then,  and  ever 
since  that  morning,  I  feel  toward  them 


A  Wonderful  New  World  85 

in  a  new  way,  and  love  them  more.  Jim 
had  it  about  right,  it  seemed  to  me, 
when  he  said  he  felt  as  if  he'd  had  a 
handkerchief  tied  over  his  eyes  all  his 
life  when  he  was  outdoors  and  that  now 
he'd  got  it  off,  it  was  going  to  stay  off. 

We  had  much  to  talk  about  on  our 
way  back  to  the  house  and  Uncle  Fred 
promised  to  teach  us  how  to  see  things. 
Before  we  reached  home,  he  noticed  an 
ants'  nest  and  we  watched  the  creatures 
awhile.  He  told  us  some  strange  things 
that  I  could  not  believe  if  I  did  not  know 
that  Uncle  Fred  never  tells  an  untruth. 
There  are  tribes  of  ants,  he  said,  which 
make  war  on  other  tribes,  and  take 
prisoners,  and  make  slaves  of  them,  to 
do  all  the  work  about  the  home  of  the 
conquerors,  such  as  keeping  the  place 
clean  and  supplying  their  masters' 
young  -with  food.  The  warlike  tribes 
of  ants  actually  keep  cows,  too,  or  what 
amounts  to  almost  the  same  thing,  for 


86  These  Are  My  Jewels 

they  milk  a  kind  of  green  insect  which 
feeds  on  the  leaves  of  plants  and  which 
gives  a  drop  of  sweet  liquid,  instead  of 
milk.  It  was  all  wonderful. 

"Most  of  the  people  in  the  world  do 
not  know  what  they  are  missing,"  said 
Uncle  Fred,  as  we  neared  home.  "They 
do  not  know  what  is  going  on  around 
them.  They  fail  to  get  acquainted  with 
the  birds,  and  four-footed  animals,  and 
all  the  little  creatures,  and  so  lose  a 
great  part  of  the  happiness  of  life.  To 
one  who  knows  all  about  the  life  of  the 
folk  of  the  woods  and  fields  there  will 
come,  throughout  all  his  life,  much 
unselfish  pleasure.  He  has  an  advant- 
age over  others.  He  cannot  walk  in  a 
garden,  or  along  a  roadway,  or  across  a 
field  without  noting  something  which 
will  delight  him.  It  is  like  going  to  a 
theatre  where  are  the  finest  performers 
in  the  world.  There  are  weddings  and 
deaths — comedies  and  tragedies — and  all 


A  Wonderful  New  World  87 

the  doings  of  a  remarkable  people.  But 
he  or  she  who  would  enjoy  all  this  must 
learn  to  see.  And  the  pleasure  is  of  a 
kind  to  make  anyone,  a  boy  or  a  girl,  a 
man  or  a  woman,  better  of  thought  and 
happier  in  a  host  of  ways.  It  is  an 
ennobling  pleasure,  and  is  always  at 
hand." 

"I  can't  get  over  my  being  so  blind," 
said  Jim. 

"I  think  many  people  go  through  life 
pretty  dull  of  eyes  and  hearing  to  all 
around  them,"  answered  Uncle  Fred, 
very  thoughtfully.  "We  don't  half  ap- 
preciate the  beings  of  our  own  kind,  the 
people  we  live  with,  and  see,  every  day. 
There  are  beauties  of  character  among 
our  friends  that  we  fail  to  note.  Un- 
selfish, devoted  lives  are  often  lived  to 
their  end  without  any  mark  of  notice  or 
understanding  except  what  must  come 
from  within.  I  think  it  is  a  pretty  good 
thing  to  look  for  what  is  good  and  beau- 


88  These  Are  My  Jewels 

tiful  among  your  companions  at  home 
or  at  school  as  w^ell  as  among  the  birds 
and  other  creatures,  for,  your  eyes,  once 
opened  to  God's  endless  love  and  -watch- 
fulness, as  shown  to  his  children  of 
every  kind  all  over  the  -world,  and  in  all 
situations,  can  never  be  blind  again  to 
what  will  give  endless  happiness.  It's  a 
good  world  to  live  in." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"IT  IS  I.      BE  NOT  AFRAID." 

It  had  been  a  very  hot  day,  and  after 
dinner  mamma  and  papa  were  sitting 
out  on  the  piazza,  -when  we  all  heard  a 
roll  of  thunder  far  away  to  the  west. 
Jim  was  sitting  on  the  gate-post  and  I 
was  rolling  the  croquet  balls  about  on 
the  lawn,  when  mamma  called  us  to 
come  to  her. 

"Sit  here  with  us,"  she  said.  "We  are 
watching  the  storm  as  it  comes  up." 

I  came  up  on  the  porch  and  looked  to 
the  west,  where  the  sound  had  come 
from,  and  couldn't  see  anything  except 
what  was  like  a  great  heap  of  white 
•wool  in  the  sky;  it  seemed  as  if  it  was 
coming  out  of  the  green  lines  where  the 
woods  were,  away  off,  and  it  kept  piling 
up  higher  and  "higher.  The  air  was 

89 


90  These  Are  My  Jewels 

awfully  close:  it  was  as  if  you  couldn't 
get  enough  of  it  to  breathe,  and  every- 
thing was  still.  Kven  the  bluejays  were 
not  making  any  noise,  and  the  chickens 
were  gathering  under  the  barn.  There 
wasn't  a  bit  of  breeze — the  leaves  of  the 
cottonwood  tree  in  the  front  yard  were 
not  moving — and  everything  felt,  some- 
how, strange. 

All  the  while,  the  heap  of  wool  in  the 
west  kept  rolling  up  higher  and  higher, 
until  it  became  a  great,  white  mountain 
in  the  sky,  which  almost  overhung  our 
heads,  and  then  at  the  bottom,  it  sud- 
denly began  to  get  black,  and  the  black- 
ness grew  until  all  the  white  clouds 
seemed  to  be  drowned  in  it.  There  was 
a  rumbling  in  the  clouds  all  the  time 
and  it  grew  almost  dark  and  then  came 
a  little  breeze  and  then  more  until  it 
grew  into  a  great  wind  which  screamed 
through  the  branches  and  filled  the  air 
with  all  sorts  of  flying  things.  After  a 


"It  Is  L    Be  Not  Afraid"  91 

while,  the  wind  went  down  a  little,  but 
not  much,  and  then  the  rain  began  to 
fall  in  great  drops  which  came  thicker 
and  faster  every  moment.  Just  then 
there  came  a  great  zig-zagging  streak 
of  lightning,  running  from  the  top  to 
the  big  black  cloud  we  were  looking 
at,  and  all  the  darkness  around  it  was 
lighted  up.  I  hid  my  face  against  papa's 
shoulder 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  said  papa.  "You'll 
soon  learn  to  enjoy  it  all  instead  of  being 
fearful.  It  is  grand."  I  looked  at  Jim 
and  he  laughed  at  me.  I  could  see  his 
face,  just  over  mamma's  head. 

"Fraidy  cat!"  said  Jim. 

"No,"  mamma  answered,  taking  hold 
of  Jim's  hand,  "Katherine  isn't  afraid, 
and  I  am  sure  none  of  us  will  be  fright- 
ened by  this  splendid  storm.  Why,  it  is 
more  beautiful  than  the  Fourth  of  July 
fireworks  you  children  enjoy  so  every 
year." 


92  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"Yosaphine  is  afraid, — she's  drawing 
down  the  window-shades,  and  shutting 
the  doors,"  Jim  shouted,  from  the  end  of 
the  porch,  where  he  could  see  the  kitchen 
windows. 

Josephine  Johnson  is  our  cook,  and 
she  calls  herself  "Yosaphine  Yohnson," 
because  she  is  a  Swede,  and  so  Jim 
always  calls  her  Yosaphine.  I  ran  over 
to  Jim,  and,  just  as  I  leaned  out  to  see 
the  dark  kitchen  windows  a  big  drop  of 
rain  struck  my  hair,  and  then  came  a 
blinding  flash  of  lightning  and  a  perfect 
crash  of  thunder.  We  both  scuttled  over 
to  papa  and  mamma,  and  Jim  got  to  them 
first. 

"Oho!"  I  called  out,  "someone  can  run 
all  right,  even  if  he  isn't  a  fraidy  cat." 

Papa  laughed,  and  took  us  both,  with 
mamma,  into  the  library,  for  the  rain 
was  blowing  in  upon  us.  But  we  all  sat 
by  the  window  to  watch  the  storm. 

"Always  remember,"  said  papa,  "that 


"It  Is  L    Be  Not  Afraid"  93 

the  storm  is  not  likely  to  harm  you;  that 
you  must  riot  fear  it,  because  God  is  as 
much  in  the  storm  as  he  is  in  the  sun- 
shine." 

Just  then  there  came  another  dreadful 
crash. 

"Mamma  jumped  at  that,"  cried  Jim. 

"It  was  not  because  she  was  afraid," 
said  papa.  "You  are  likely  to  jump  at 
any  sudden  noise,  even  when  you  know 
there  is  no  danger.  That  is  only  the 
natural  effect  of  any  sudden  shock  to 
the  nerves.  It  is  merely  physical.  Your 
mother  isn't  frightened." 

I  could  see  that  what  papa  said  was 
true.  Mamma  smiled  at  us  all,  but  said 
nothing,  for  the  rain  and  wind  and  thun- 
der were  so  loud  we  could  scarcely  hear 
each  other. 

'"Fear  not,  I  am  with  thee!'  That  is 
a  good  thing  to  say  when  the  storm 
strikes,"  and  Jim  and  I  repeated  the 
words  after  papa,  and  he  told  us  they 


94  These  Are  My  Jewels 

were  God's  words  to  all  in  times  of 
trouble  or  danger. 

There  were  more  dreadful  thunder- 
claps and  great  rolling  peals,  and  the 
lightning  kept  darting  and  flashing  all 
about — but  I  wasn't  afraid  any  more, 
and  I  know  I  never  shall  be  again.  It 
was  very  beautiful  to  look  at,  as  soon  as 
the  fear  was  gone.  And,  pretty  soon,  the 
rain  began  to  get  less  and  less  and  the 
clouds  lighter  and  then  the  sun  came 
out  again,  and  the  blue  sky,  and  every- 
thing was  glistening  and  fresh  and  one 
couldn't  help  feeling  happy.  Even  the 
chickens  came  around  their  yard,  cack- 
ling and  clucking  as  if  they  understood 
it  all,  and,  in  an  elm  tree  in  the  street,  a 
robin  was  singing  as  if  he  had  been  left 
a  fortune. 

I  think  it  must  be  that  one  kind  of 
courage  makes  another,  for  when  the 
storm  was  over  and  I  had  learned  not  to 
be  afraid  any  more,  I  became  all  at  once 


"It  Is  L    Be  Not  Afraid"  95 

brave  about  something  else  which  had 
troubled  me  for  a  long  time.  I  hadn't 
been  afraid  of  anything  real,  but  just  of 
being  laughed  at,  and  I  think  that  is 
about  the  hardest  thing  in  the  world 
to  endure.  Now,  I  thought  that,  if  I 
wasn't  afraid  of  a  thunder-storm,  I 
surely  needn't  be  afraid  of  having  any 
one  make  fun  of  me,  and  I  acted  as 
quickly  as  I  could,  so  that  I  would  not 
falter  in  my  resolution. 

I  went  upstairs  into  my  room  and  from 
the  lower  drawer  in  the  bureau  I  took 
Maybelle  Louise  and  Lucretia  Mott,  and 
brought  them  down  to  the  library.  I  sat 
down  near  mamma  with  one  of  the  dear 
girls  on  each  arm. 

Maybelle  Louise  and  Lucretia  Mott 
are  my  dolls.  I  love  them  and  I  like  to 
play  with  them,  but  Jim  begun  laughing 
at  me  some  time  ago  as  a  great  girl  too 
big  to  be  playing  with  dolls,  and  I  had 
put  them  away,  as  I  thought,  forever. 


96  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Maybelle  Louise  is  very  pretty,  with 
blue  eyes  and  flaxen  hair  and  a  pink 
chiffon  dress  and  hat.  Lucretia  Mott 
was  given  to  me  by  a  little  girl  who 
had  tired  of  playing  with  her.  She  was 
dressed  in  a  black  gown,  with  a  white 
shawl  pinned  across  her  shoulders,  and 
she  had  on  a  cunning  little  white  cap, 
like  an  old  lady.  When  mamma  first 
saw  her  she  said,  "Why,  there's  Lucretia 
Mott!"  I  liked  that  name,  and  as  mam- 
ma said  Lucretia  Mott  was  a  very  good 
woman,  I  named  my  doll  after  her  at 
once. 

I  had  been  very  lonesome  after  my 
Maybelle  and  Lucretia  were  locked  up 
in  the  bureau  drawers,  but  I  couldn't 
bear  to  have  Jim  making  fun  of  me,  so  I 
contented  myself  with  peeping  in  at  the 
dear  girls  once  or  twice  a  day,  and  Jim 
thought  I  had  forgotten  all  about  them. 
Little  did  he  know  a  fond  mother's  heart! 

And  now  when  I  heard  that  I  must 


"It  Is  L    Be  Not  Afraid"  97 

fear  not  even  the  thunder,  I  thought  I 
must  make  a  stand  not  to  be  scared 
away  from  Maybelle  and  Lucretia  by 
Jim's  ridicule  and  laughter. 

Sure  enough,  the  moment  Jim  saw  the 
dolls  in  my  arms  he  began  to  laugh. 
Papa  was  telling  us  that  he  thought  we 
had  behaved  very  well  in  the  storm,  and 
as  he  talked,  he  noticed  Jim's  laughing. 
•  "Papa,"  I  said,  "I  am  going  to  play 
with  my  dolls,  and  not  care  for  Jim's 
laughing  at  me.  They  are  lonely  for  me, 
up  there  in  the  dark  bureau  drawer,  and 
I  miss  them  very  much.  You  may  laugh 
if  you  want  to,"  I  said,  turning  to  Jim. 
"I  am  not  afraid  of  being  laughed  at." 

"Then  you  are  a  very  brave  young 
lady,"  said  papa,  kissing  me.  "It  takes 
real  courage  to  endure  being  laughed  at, 
and  often  it  becomes  a  duty  to  bear,  for 
the  sake  of  principle,  all  sorts  of  ridi- 
cule." 

Jim  came  over  then  and  stood  close  by 


98  These  Are  My  Jewels 

me.  "Your'e  all  right,  Kit!"  was  all  he 
said,  but  it  made  me  feel  fine! 

Then  papa  looked  at  Maybelle  and 
Lucretia,  and  he  told  us  how  Lucretia 
Mott,  for  -whom  my  doll  was  named,  had 
been  a  brave  woman,  always  working 
for  what  she  thought  was  right,  never 
fearing  either  laughter  or  blame  from 
those  who  might  oppose  her.  And,  from 
that  time,  though  Maybelle  is  much  the 
prettiest,  and  poor  Lucretia  is  far  from 
being  a  beauty,  I  loved  Lucretia  best. 

That  night,  when  mamma  was  helping 
me  as  I  went  to  undress  for  bed,  I  told 
her  that  it  seemed  to  me  we  were  always 
fighting  fears  of  some  kind,  little  or  big. 
And  she  said  that  it  was  because  men 
and  women  had  for  so  many  years  and 
ages  allowed  themselves  to  be  afraid  of 
everything  around  them  in  God's  beau- 
tiful world.  "Fear  has  become  a  habit," 
she  said;  "it  spoils  life  for  thousands  of 
people.  We  must  all  learn  to  deny  every 


"It  is  I,    Be  Not  Afraid."  99 

thought  of  fear  the  moment  it  comes  into 
our  minds."  And  she  taught  me  the 
beautiful  twenty-third  Psalm,  begin- 
ning: 

"The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  I  shall  not 
want,"  and  ending:  "Surely  goodness  and 
mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my 
life,  and  I  shall  dwell  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  forever." 

There  came  up  another  storm,  but  the 
thunder  now  only  jarred  and  muttered  a 
little,  away  off,  and  the  rain  pattered 
steadily  overhead,  making  me  so  drowsy 
I  could  only  say  my  prayers  just  in  time 
to  keep  from  being  asleep  at  the  Amen. 

Maybelle  and  Lucretia  Mott  were 
tucked  in  beside  me,  and  we  all  slept 
well. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WORK,   TRUST,    AND   DON'T   WORRY. 

Uncle  Fred  has  a  -way  of  saying  things 
so  that  you  never  forget  them. 

One  day,  I  remember,  we  were  boiling 
the  kettle — it  was  a  tin  pail — to  make 
coffee  for  luncheon  in  the  woods,  for  we 
do  that  very  often  now. 

We  kept  piling  bits  of  branches  upon 
the  fire  and  as  we  were  hungry,  we  all 
stood  looking  at  the  pail  to  see  the  coffee 
boil.  The  sandwiches  were  laid  out  upon 
pieces  of  bark  and  the  gingerbread  and 
cheese,  pickles  and  cookies  looked  as  if 
they  could  hardly  wait  to  be  eaten.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  coffee  would  never  boil. 

We  had  made  the  coffee  regular  camp 
fashion,  under  Uncle  Fred's  orders.  We 
had  brought  a  cup  of  freshly-ground 

coffee  from  home.     This  we  put  into  the 
100 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry          101 

tin  pail,  then  filled  the  pail  almost  full 
of  fresh  spring  water  and  set  it  on  the 
fire.  It  was  to  come  to  a  boil  and  be 
left  to  bubble  as  hard  as  it  could  for  a 
minute  or  two.  Then  a  splash  of  cold 
water  must  be  thrown  in  to  "settle"  it, 
and  we  were  promised  something 
awfully  good  to  drink  with  pure,  thick, 
Jersey  cream,  and  a  lump  of  sugar  or 
two  for  each  tin  cup. 

"A  watched  pot  never  boils,"  said 
Uncle  Fred. 

"That's  a  proverb,"  said  Johnny  Lane. 
"What  queer  things  proverbs  are." 

'"There  is  wisdom  in  some  of  them," 
said  Uncle  Fred,"  and  this  one  about  the 
'watched  pot'  is  certainly  a  hint  in  the 
right  direction." 

"Do  you  really  believe  there  is  any- 
thing in  our  eyes  to  keep  the  coffee 
from  boiling,"  asked  Mary,  going  over  to 
where  Uncle  Fred  was  sitting  on  a  log 
waiting  for  luncheon. 


102  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"I  don't  know,  some  eyes  might  dis- 
courage the  coals,  they're  so  bright," 
said  Uncle  Fred,  laughing. 

"Oh,  you  are  practicing  speeches  for 
young  ladies,"  and  Mary  laughed,  too. 

We  were  all  around  Uncle  Fred,  now, 
forgetting  all  about  the  coffee,  when  he 
cried  out: 

"There!  It's  boiling  over!  Let  the  lid 
alone — it  had  to  come  up — the  steam 
lifted  it.  Set  the  pail  on  the  edge  of  the 
fire  where  it  isn't  so  hot,  and  let  it  boil 
more  gently  for  a  minute.  Now,  dash  in 
the  cold  water.  There!  The  coffee  is 
ready!" 

We  had  a  jolly  luncheon  and  while  we 
were  sitting  around  after  it,  talking  and 
laughing,  Johnny  Lane  began  again 
about  the  proverb  Uncle  Fred  had  used. 

"And  it  was  true,  this  time,"  I  couldn't 
help  saying.  "The  coffee  wouldn't  boil 
while  we  all  stood  around  watching  it, 
and,  just  as  we  forgot  all  about  it,  over 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry          103 

it  came  into  the  fire."  "If  you  want  me  to 
tell  you  what  I  think  is  the  inner  mean- 
ing of  that  saying,  I  will,"  said  Uncle 
Fred.  "But  it  may  sound  a  little  like  a 
sermon." 

"Never  mind,  fire  away!"  Jim  replied. 
Jim  is  sometimes  just  a  little  —  but  I  am 
to  remember  not  to  find  fault!  Jim  is  an 
impulsive,  warm-hearted  boy. 

"Simple  people  long  ago  made  the 
proverbs  or  sayings  we  hear  yet,"  went 
on  Uncle  Fred,  "some  of  them  have 
ceased  to  be  quite  apt,  but  all  of  them 
have  a  core  of  real  meaning  which  can 
be  found,  by  a  little  attention. 

Take  'The  watched  pot  never  boils.' 
Who  has  not  noticed  how  slowly  the 
hands  creep  around  the  face  of  a  clock, 
when  you  are  waiting  for  a  certain  hour 
or  minute?  When  your  mind  is  eagerly 
fixed  upon  anything  to  come  you  say  the 
time  goes  slow.  Think  of  something 
else  and  the  minutes  fly  as  usual." 


104  These  Are  My  Jewels 

We  all  nodded  at  each  other  over  this. 
We  had  everyone  of  us  counted  the  slow 
minutes  many  times  when  we  were  wait- 
ing for  something  pleasant. 

"It  is  different  when  there's  trouble 
ahead,"  sighed  John  Peterson,"  then 
time  goes  like  a  horse  running." 

Uncle  Fred  laughed  and  said  that 
John  was  a  dismal  philosopher.  And 
he  quoted  something  from  Shakspeare, 
almost  like  John's  remark.  Then  he 
grew  very  serious,  arid  we  all  edged  as 
close  to  him  as  we  could,  for  we  could 
see  by  his  look  that  he  had  something 
very  important  to  say  to  us. 

"There  is  a  deep  meaning  to  be  got 
into  the  old  saying,  if  not  out  of  it.  If 
you  will  listen  very  thoughtfully  I  will 
tell  you  what  I  mean." 

We  all  promised  to  listen,  hard,  and  so 
he  went  on. 

"When  you  are  doing  anything,  con- 
centrate your  mind  upon  your  work  or 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry          105 

your  play,  but  when  you  are  through, 
when  you  have  done  all  you  can  for  the 
time,  stop  thinking  about  it,  and  do  not 
worry  over  the  part  some  one  else  must 
do.  And  don't  fix  your  thoughts  on 
something  or  somebody  in  fear  that 
they  will  go  •wrong.  In  short,  do  your 
own  work,  do  it  well,  and  don't  worry. 
Don't  be  afraid  your  fire  is  going  to  go 
out,  or  that  the  kettle  you  have  set  over 
it  is  going  to  get  cold  instead  of  hot. 

"If  you  have  laid  the  fire  properly,  and 
put  the  kettle  on  right,  with  the  thing 
you  want  cooked  in  the  kettle,  you  have 
done  your  part.  The  forces  of  nature, — 
or  God,  rather  let  us  say, — will  do  the 
rest. 

"The  teachers  of  New  Thought  have 
very  important  things  to  say  along  this 
line.  We  believe  that  when  our  minds 
become  burdened  over  what  are  called 
cares  and  troubles,  we  should  resolutely 
turn  our  thoughts  away  from  the  dis- 


106  These  Are  My  Jewels 

turbing  subject  and  fix  them  upon  some- 
thing calming,  beautiful  and  good. 

"The  forces  of  God  work  for  good  at 
all  times.  What  is  best,  what  is  right,  is 
going  to  happen  without  our  overlook- 
ing and  trying  to  'boss'  things.  If  you 
think  of  beautiful,  restful  things,  trust- 
ing in  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God, 
having  first  done  all  that  is  due  from 
you,  what  you  have  worked  and  hoped 
for  will  appear." 

"Sometimes,"  said  Sandy  very  soberly, 
"we  worry  a  lot  over  some  one  else's 
affair,  and  then  we  get  other  people  to 
fretting,  and  those  who  are  trying  to  do 
something  get  harried  so  that  they  can't 
work  well." 

Uncle  Fred  liked  that.  I  guess  he 
hadn't  expected  it  from  Sandy. 

"I  have  heard  of  children  who  planted 
some  garden  seeds,"  said  he,  laying  his 
hand  upon  Sandy's  shoulder,  "and  the 
next  day  the  children  were  so  anxious 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry         107 

to  see  whether  the  plants  were  growing 
that  they  dug  up  the  seeds  to  look  at 
them.  Every  day  they  turned  up  the 
soil  and  held  the  poor  seeds  in  their 
hands,  and  looked  them  over.  Then  they 
stuck  them  back  into  the  ground  for  a 
few  hours.  The  seeds  never  sprouted, 
and  the  garden  they  wanted  to  have 
became  a  patch  of  weeds." 

"Look  at  that  navy  blue  bird  up  there!" 
cried  Agnes  Lane,  suddenly,  pointing  at 
a  beech  branch  right  over  our  heads. 

O,  -  such  a  tiny  bird  it  was,  and  so 
queerly  blue! 

"It  is  an  indigo  bird,"  said  Uncle  Fred 
very  softly.  "I  wish  he  would  sing.  From 
the  way  he  acts  I  believe  he  has  a  nest 
near  by." 

"Isn't  he  a  beauty!"  exclaimed  Ellen. 
"How  sweet  he  would  look  on  a  black 
velvet  hat!" 

"Oh,  Ellen,"  said  Mary,  "I  didn't  think 
you  could  say  that!  I  think  the  bird  is 


108  These  Are  My  Jewels 

beautiful  as  it  is  now,  but  I  should  hate 
to  see  the  poor  dead  thing  on  a  hat." 

Ellen  flushed  very  red,  but  said  noth- 
ing. Uncle  Fred  looked  at  her  kindly. 

"Ellen  spoke  thoughtlessly,"  said  he, 
"but  she  commands  her  tongue  very 
-well  now,  I  am  sure.  It  is  hard  to  be 
rebuked  isn't  it?" 

Ellen's  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"I  was  only  thinking  how  lovely  the 
bird  was,  and  wishing  I  could  see  him 
every  day,"  said  Mary. 

"Somewhere  near  here,  in  a  small  tree 
or  shrub,  perhaps  in  that  thicket  over 
there,"  said  Uncle  Fred,  "is  a  nest,  a 
beautiful  little  nest,  full  of  young  in- 
digo birds.  That  one  we  just  saw  is  the 
young  birds'  father,  and  their  mother  I 
noticed  too,  a  moment  ago.  They  are 
out  foraging  for  their  young  ones.  If 
they  should  be  killed  what  would  be- 
come of  the  nest  full  of  young  birds  ?" 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry          109 

"They  would  slowly  starve  to  death," 
answered  Jim. 

"They  would  die,  neglected  and  mis- 
erable, perhaps,  because  some  boy  or 
man  had  killed  the  parent  birds  for  cruel 
pleasure,  or  for  profit.  The  plumage  of 
birds  is  at  its  best  when  their  nestlings 
are  young  and  dependent  upon  them  for 
food.  So  at  that  time  the  pretty  things 
are  a  mark  for  hunters  of  beautiful 
plumage  for  ladies'  hats.  It  is  hard  to 
imagine  more  misery  than  the  death 
of  these  little  blue  things  would  cause. 
That  is  why  no  one  who  has  once 
thought  about  it  can  bear  to  wear,  as 
an  ornament,  the  wings,  or  breast,  or 
head,  or  body  of  any  wild  bird." 

"Why  do  the  laws  except  the  feathers 
of  game  and  domestic  birds?"  I  asked, 
and  felt  rather  fine  in  showing  that  I 
remembered  what  I  had  heard  someone 
say. 

"Because  the  young  of  such  birds  are 


110  These  Are  My  Jewels 

protected.  During  the  nesting  season  no 
game  birds  can  be  killed,"  -was  Uncle 
Fred's  answer. 

"Well,"  said  Jim,  "I  don't  like  feathers 
of  any  kind  on  a  girl's  hat.  I  like 
chicken,  but  not  chicken  feathers,  un- 
less they  are  stuffed  into  pillows." 

Mamma  never  wears  feathers  and  she 
has  taught  Jim  and  me  not  to  help  in 
any  way  to  lessen  the  numbers  of  wild 
birds;  for  we  love  them. 

The  little  indigo  bird  hopped  about,  as 
if  it  knew  we  wouldn't  hurt  it,  and  at 
last  raised  a  song  so  sweet  and  so  loud 
that  we  were  all  enchanted. 

From  birds,  Uncle  Fred  got  to  talking 
about  animals,  wild  and  domestic.  It 
was  this  day  that  Uncle  Fred  told  us 
the  story  of  Bark,  a  curly  little  dog  that 
saved  its  master's  life  when  he  went  to 
be  a  soldier. 

Uncle  Fred  is  very  fond  of  dogs,  and 
all  kinds  of  animals,  and  he  had  been 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry         111 

telling  us  how  bad  it  was  to  tease  and 
plague  a  dog.  He  says  their  feelings  are 
easily  hurt,  and  that  their  love  and  devo- 
tion deserve  a  better  return  than  most 
people  give. 

"Anyone  who  will  keep  a  dog,  a  cat  or 
bird  and  not  feed  it  and  love  it,  and  see 
that  it  does  not  pine  away  in  loneliness, 
is  not  fit  to  own  any  sort  of  a  pet,"  he 
said.  But  I  must  tell  about  Bark. 

In  the  very  first  part  of  the  great  war 
between  the  states  there  was  a  farmer's 
boy  in  Wisconsin  who  enlisted  for  three 
months  in  the  Fourth  Wisconsin  regi- 
ment, and  when  he  left  home  he  took 
his  pet  dog,  a  curly  little  fellow  named 
Bark,  with  him,  and  it  was  allowed  to 
run  about  the  camps,  for  military  rules 
were  not  very  strict  at  first. 

Amos  Steer  was  the  boy's  name.  In 
the  very  first  fight  he  was  in  he  was 
sent  with  others  a  little  away  from  his 
regiment  into  a  thicket,  for  he  was  a 


112  These  Are  My  Jewels 

great  shot,  and  had  a  sharpshooter's 
rifle.  He  was  to  shoot  at  the  enemy  as 
he  thought  best  when  any  of  them  came 
within  his  range. 

There  was  a  lively  skirmish  and  the 
Confederates,  who  were  fighting  bravely, 
fired  some  shells,  and  Amos  was  struck  by 
a  piece  of  shell  and  was  badly  wounded 
in  his  hip  so  he  could  not  walk.  His  reg- 
iment was  driven  off,  and  not  until  night 
did  anyone  come  to  pick  up  the  dead  and 
wounded.  And,  even  then,  Amos  came 
very  near  being  left  to  die.  When  the 
soldiers  came  at  first  they  could  not  find 
him,  for  he  was  hidden  in  the  thicket 
and  was  so  weak  he  could  not  call  loud 
euough  to  make  them  hear. 

But  Bark  came  with  the  men  from 
Amos'  company,  and  he  kept  running 
round  and  round  until  he  found  his 
master.  Then  he  set  up  such  an  excited 
yapping  that  one  of  the  seekers  heard 
him  and  went  to  see  what  ailed  him. 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry         113 

There  was  poor  Amos,  almost  dead, 
and  his  life  was  saved  only  by  the 
greatest  care. 

Amos  soon  came  home  on  sick  leave. 
He  brought  Bark  with  him  but  the  little 
dog  was  not  allowed  to  go  to  the  war 
again.  He  lived  to  be  an  old  dog,  and 
was  renamed  "Soldier."  When  he  died 
the  children  of  Amos  put  a  monument 
.over  his  little  grave  telling  all  about  his 
saving  his  master's  life,  and  on  Decora- 
tion Day  the  children  always  put  a  little 
flag  over  the  place  where  the  brave  dog 
lies. 

And  we  all  agreed  after  we  heard  this 
true  story  that  the  dog  deserves  to  be 
called  "The  Friend  of  Man." 

It  is  funny  how  often  on  the  same  day 
we  get  to  thinking  and  talking  about 
entirely  different  things.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  day  we  were  talking  about 
dogs  we  were  idling  about  in  the  front 


114  These  Are  My  Jewels 

yard — that  is,  Uncle  Fred  and  Jim  and  I 
— when  Uncle  Fred  said: 

"Well,  Jim,  what  is  it?"  for  Jim  was 
looking  sober. 

"I  was  just  thinking  what  a  good 
fellow  mamma  is." 

"Woman,  you  mean,"  I  said. 

"No,  I  don't.  Mamma  and  I  had  a  bully 
time  last  night  before  papa  came  home 
and  while  you  were  off  •with  Uncle  Fred. 
She  told  me  something  that  has  made  a 
new  thinking  inside  me.  I  guess  it  must 
be  in  my  heart." 

"What  was  it,  Jim?"  Uncle  Fred  asked. 

"Mamma  said  that  we  must  learn  the 
'Father-Mother'  presence  of  God  before 
the  real  meaning  of  being  'at  one,'  or 
at-one-ment  was  made  plain.  In  the  man 
the  feminine  intuition  was  to  be  culti- 
vated, and  in  the  woman  the  masculine 
reason  was  to  be  brought  forth,  to  make 
a  perfect  whole.  The  more  even,  I  guess, 
the  better.  Anyway,  I  have  been  think- 


Work,  Trust  and  Don't  Worry          115 

ing  what  makes  papa  so  good  is  the 
mother  part  of  him." 

"Then  mamma  must  be  good  because 
she  has  so  much  papa." 

"Well,  anyway,"  said  Jim,  "both  to- 
gether of  them  is  better  than  either 
alone." 

"Good  for  you,  Jim,"  said  Uncle  Fred, 
"you  have  unconsciously  repeated  almost 
the  words  of  a  famous  preacher." 

"Proof  of  my  great  mind,  isn't  it?" 
said  Jim.  "What  were  the  words,  Uncle 
Fred?" 

"The  great  preacher  said  that  'man 
as  man  was  better  than  'woman,  that 
woman  as  woman  was  better  than  man, 
but  that  both  together  were  better  than 
either  alone.'" 

"Was  he  a  New  Thought  man?"  Jim 
asked. 

"Yes;  but  he  was  born  fifty  years  or 
more  too  soon — " 


116  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Just  then  Jim  gave  a  howl,  turned 
a  complete  summersault,  and  started 
down  the  hill.  He  was  after  Bildad 
about  something. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CONSCIENCE. 

There  is  one  thing  certain,  if  Jim  and 
I  haven't  done  quite  as  well  as  we  ex- 
pected in  keeping  the  new  way  of  living, 
we  have  got  to  thinking  in  a  new  way 
and  getting  lots  of  enjoyment  out  of 
things  we  never  dreamed  of  before. 
May  be  it  is  because  we  ask  so  many 
questions,  but  papa  and  mamma  always 
encourage  us  in  that. 

The  evening  of  the  day  when  we  went 
through  the  pasture  with  Uncle  Fred  we 
were  all  together  on  the  piazza  and  Jim 
and  I  were  telling  of  what  we  had  seen. 
"We've  got  lots  to  learn  about  seeing, 
Kit,"  said  Jim.  "Why,"  he  went  on,  "I 

117 


118  These  Are  My  Jewels 

don't  believe  we  could  even  see  a  ghost, 
unless  it  was  pointed  out  to  us!" 

"I  believe  you  never  will,"  laughed 
papa,  who  had  overheard  us;  "that  is,  if 
you  have  a  healthy  mind." 

"But  were  there  never  any  ghosts  at 
any  time?"  asked  Jim.  "If  there  were 
never  any  ghosts  why  are  the  old  story 
books  so  full  of  them,  and  why  are  some 
people  afraid  of  them,  even  now?  Viggo 
Slann  wouldn't  go  through  a  graveyard 
at  night  for  anything.  He  says  there 
are  what  he  calls  'hants'  there,  and  that 
it  isn't  safe,  by  a  long  shot." 

"There  are  no  ghosts,"  was  papa's 
answer.  "The  belief  in  them  is  but  a 
relic  of  the  old  superstition  prevailing  in 
the  world  when  people  had  not  learned 
as  much  of  God's  ways  as  now.  Had  it 
been  his  will  that  those  who  have  gone 
from  this  world  before  us  should  appear 
to  us  again  in  this  world,  rest  assured 
they  would  not  come  in  the  ridiculous 


Conscience  119 

or  alarming  shape  the  foolish  and  igno- 
rant describe.  They  would  not  be  flitting 
aimlessly  around  graveyards  at  night, 
nor  haunt  old  houses  where  some  crime 
may  have  been  committed.  They  would 
be  in  better  business.  Those  who  loved 
us,  you  may  be  certain,  would  come  in 
loving  and  reasoning  guise,  and  we 
would  not  be  afraid,  but  would  be  glad. 
But  God  in  his  wisdom  has  not  seen  fit 
that  those  who  have  preceded  us  in  the 
world  to  come,  should  visit  us  here 
again.  We  hope  and  feel  that  we  shall 
meet  them,  but  he  has  seen  best  to 
assure  us  of  that  in  other  ways  than 
through  their  appearances  and  mes- 
sages. It  is  all  for  the  best,  somehow. 
You  needn't  fear.  There  are  no  ghosts." 
"It  would  be  pretty  uncomfortable 
work  to  be  a  ghost,  anyhow,  if  there 
were  any,"  remarked  Jim.  "To  be  scoot- 
ing about  in  a  graveyard  at  night,  in 
winter,  without  any  fire,  or  wandering, 


120  These  Are  My  Jewels 

with  your  throat  cut,  up  and  down  the 
hallways  of  some  falling-down  old  house, 
ought  to  be  trying  on  the  system,  espe- 
cially to  the  women  and  children  ghosts. 
I'd  rather  have  a  job  in  brighter  places, 
and  in  the  daytime." 

"Well,  I'm  not  surprised  at  your  taste 
in  the  matter,"  said  papa,  "though  dark- 
ness is  nothing  to  be  afraid  of.  You 
have  both  been  taught  that.  I'm  glad  to 
know  that  Kit,  here,  is  not  afraid  to  go 
into  the  cellar  at  night  for  anything  we 
want,  and  to  have  noticed,  too,  that, 
when  she  knows  just  where  the  thing 
is,  she  doesn't  take  a  lamp.  The  fear  of 
darkness  is,  in  itself,  partly  a  super- 
stition allied  with  the  ghost  foolish- 
ness, or,  it  may  be,  a  dim  inheritance 
coming  down  from  the  time  when  dan- 
gerous wild  animals  were  abundant, 
when  human  beings,  then  comparatively 
defenseless,  could  not  safely  venture  out 
at  hours  when  they  couldn't  see  as  well 


Conscience  121 

as  could  the  beasts.  But  there  are  no 
wild  beasts  to  dread  in  most  countries 
now,  and  darkness  conies  only  as  the 
time  of  needed  rest  and  sleep,  to  refresh 
us  for  the  daylight  again." 

"But  isn't  there  anything  in  the  world 
to  be  afraid  of,"  asked  Jim,  "anything 
that  we  can't  see,  or  touch,  but  just, 
somehow,  feel?  Isn't  our  conscience  that 
way?" 

I  was  astonished  at  Jim.  I  didn't 
know  that  he  had  paid  any  particular 
attention  to  conscience,  himself,  though, 
when  we  disagree  sometimes  about  the 
division  of  things,  or  something  like 
that,  he  puts  on  a  solemn  face,  though 
he  can't  always  keep  his  eyes  sober,  and 
says,  in  a  sad  voice,  that  he  will  leave  it 
to  my  conscience.  Then  I  generally  give 
in,  though  I  have  my  doubts.  Now,  his 
question  showed  that  he  had  been  really 
thinking  about  conscience  sometimes 
when  I  never  suspected  him. 


122  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Papa  was  going  to  explain,  when  Mr. 
Duncan  called  to  see  him  about  some- 
thing, and  then  Uncle  Fred  and  Jim  and 
I  went  out  on  the  porch  and  sat  watch- 
ing fireflies,  or  lightning-bugs,  as  most 
of  the  children  call  them.  I  guess  both 
names  are  right.  Uncle  Fred  was  telling 
a  funny  story,  which  he  said  he  was 
afraid  wasn't  quite  true,  about  a  man 
'who  was  so  stingy  that  he  mixed  light- 
ning-bugs with  his  bees  so  that  the 
bees  could  work  at  night,  when  Jim 
broke  out  again: 

"What  is  there  about  conscience,  any- 
how?" 

"There's  a  good  deal,"  said  Uncle 
Fred.  "It  seems  to  me  that  the  most 
wonderful  difference  between  human 
beings  and  all  other  animals  is  that  we 
have  what  we  call  a  conscience.  We 
have  a  something  within  us  -which  tells 
us  when  we  have  done  wrong,  a  regret 
and,  sometimes,  far  more  than  that. 


Conscience  123 

something  which  clings  to  us.  I  will 
give  you  an  illustration.  There  are  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  of  men  and 
women  in  the  world,  good  men  and 
women,  too,  who  will  go  down  to  their 
graves  regretful  and  conscience-pricked, 
because  they  forgot  one  thing.  Away 
from  their  parents,  absorbed  with  their 
own  affairs,  they  have  neglected  their 
father  and  mother,  those  who  brought 
them  into  the  world  and  cherished  them 
and  cared  for  them.  They  may  have 
been  grateful  to  their  parents  in  a  way; 
but  what  a  father  or  mother  hungers  for 
in  old  age  is  the  continuance  of  some- 
thing like  the  trust  and  companionship 
there  was  before  the  child  left  home. 
Occasional  letters,  little  remembrances 
on  birthdays,  visits  and  the  constant 
keeping  up  of  the  relationship  of  youth 
—these  are  the  real  things  that  make 
parents  happy  in  their  old  age.  They  do 
not  like  to  think  that  they  are  most  of 


124  These  Are  My  Jewels 

the  time  forgotten.  Always  remember 
that.  Even  the  Chinese,  it  seems  to  me, 
are  better  than  we  in  this  one  thing. 
They  are  lovingly  attentive  to  their 
parents  to  the  end  of  life,  while  we  are 
careless.  Many  a  time  I  have  heard 
some  man  or  woman  say:  'I  wish  I  had 
been  more  thoughtful.  They  would  have 
been  so  much  happier,  and  I  would  now 
have  something  to  be  glad  of,  something 
comforting  to  nae  always.' 

"I've  only  spoken  of  this  one  thing  to 
show  you  what  conscience  is.  Of  course 
there  are  a  thousand  times  in  our  daily 
life  when  conscience  speaks  at  once  and 
sometimes,  loudly.  We  may  crush  it  for 
a  time,  but  it  rises  again.  It  is  always 
with  us.  I  read  a  strange  poem  not  long 
ago,  which  I  have  in  my  pocket  book 
and  which  describes  our  conscience, 
but  not,  I  think,  in  the  way  it  should 
be  pictured.  It  is  one  of  the  things 
which  tells  us  there  is  another  life.  It  is 


Conscience  125 

God  guarding  and  advising  us.  The 
poem  does  not  give  the  right  idea,  but  it 
at  least  tells  us  how  watchful  conscience 
is.  I'll  read  you  a  verse  or  two  of  it: 

THE   GRAY   PATROL. 

Taut  bridle,  comrade;  the  ride  is  done; 
There  is  no  debate — the  Patrol  has  won. 
Slower  we'll  ride  till  we  fairly  brave 
The  gap  in  our  way  which  man  calls  the  grave; 
But,  even  then,  shall  we  know  our  dole 
From  our  life  is  paid  to  the  Gray  Patrol, 
What  some  call  Conscience,  the  Gray  Patrol? 

We  have  fought  or  fled  in  the  reckless  ride, 
Through  fields  of  yellow,  through  seeping  tide; 
We  have  turned,  as  the  Berserker  turned,  at 

bay; 
We  have  hewed  him  down  and  have  had  our 

way, 

And  again  he  has  ridden — as  yesterday — 
Close  beside  us  has  leaped  or  stole — 
Close  beside  us,  the  Gray  Patrol. 

When  days  were  ruddy,  when  days  were  dark, 
We  have  left  him  lying,  face  up  and  stark; 
We  have  left  him,  fully  and  fairly  slain, 


126  These  Are  My  Jewels 

But  ever  he  leaps  into  life  again, 
And  ever  he  rides  at  our  bridle  rein. 
Ever  he  worries  us,  O,  my  soul, 
Bver  he  rides  with  us,  cheek  by  jowl, — • 
This  clinging  marshal,  the  Gray  Patrol. 

Taut  bridle,  comrade — the  race  is  run — 
There  is  no  debate— rthe  Patrol  has  won. 

I  am  glad  Uncle  Fred  explained  that 
the  queer  poem  did  not  tell  us  the  right 
way  to  look  upon  conscience,  though  it 
seems  to  me  as  if  I  shall  often  think  of 
it  for  a  moment  as  something  gray  and 
watchful  and  never  dying.  I  shall  try 
to  consider  it  always  as  our  best  friend, 
going  along  with  us  and  caring  for  us 
and  pointing  out  the  dangerous  places. 

And  I  learned  more  than  that  about 
just  leaning  on  what  conscience  told  us 
to  do  and  then  doing  it,  and  then,  after 
that,  fearing  nothing  and  having  a  feel- 
ing of  strength,  of  being  able  to  do 
almost  anything.  I  asked  papa,  one 
evening,  if  God  gave  us  conscience  to 


Conscience  127 

show  that  he  was  backing  us  up — may  be 
that  wasn't  a  very  good  expression — as 
long  as  we  did  -what  it  told  us? 

"There  are  some  things,"  said  papa, 
very  earnestly,  "that  no  one  can  under- 
stand. God  is  so  great  that  it  is  beyond 
the  power  of  any  human  being  to  im- 
agine him.  We  say  "him,"  speaking  of 
God,  but  we  must  not  think  of  God  as  a 
man.  'God  is  a  spirit.'  'God  is  love.'  We 
can  neither  describe  nor  imagine  spirit  or 
love  in  any  solid,  tangible  or  visible  form. 
A  great,  brooding  influence,  active  in  all 
things,  controlling  all  things  for  good,  is 
God. 

"You  can  love  and  trust  God  but  you 
can  never  understand  him.  It  is  enough 
to  believe.  Job,  the  just  and  good  man, 
when  he  was  sorely  troubled,  said: 
'Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in 
him."  He  could  not  understand  why 
God  afflicted  his  loyal  servant,  but  he 
trusted  and  loved  God  still,  knowing 
that  'God  is  love.' 


128  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"Lift  yourself  toward  God  by  praying, 
and  by  thinking  of  all  his  goodness  as 
shown  by  everything  around  you;  by 
your  loving  mother,  and  by  your  friends; 
by  the  beautiful  flowers  and  trees,  and 
the  grass  which  clothes  the  bare  earth. 
Every  moment  God's  love  surrounds  you, 
— but  you  may  as  well  know  now  arid 
forever  that  there  are  limits  to  human 
powers.  There  is  the  unknowable,  the 
unthinkable,  and  God  no  one  can  encom- 
pass or  understand. 

"It  is  just  the  same  with  a  grown-up, 
strong  man,  who  has  been  out  a  long 
time  in  the  world  of  grown-up  people, 
though  in  a  different  way,  as  it  is  with 
you  two  children. 

"A  man,  unless  he  has  the  broader 
thought,  has  the  same  apprehension 
when  he  goes  out  to  get  a  note  extended 
—that  means  asking  somebody  to  give 
you  a  longer  time  in  which  to  pay  some 
money — that  you  have,  perhaps,  when 


Conscience  129 

you  come  to  ask  your  mother  or  me 
about  something. 

"Or  it  may  be,  that  instead  of  going  to 
ask  a  favor,  it  is  something — some  busi- 
ness proposition  that  will  be  of  benefit 
both  to  him  and  the  other  man.  In  the 
first  case — when  he  is  asking  a  favor — 
he  knows  what  he  wants,  perfectly,  and 
knows  how  to  utilize  what  he  is  asking 
for,  and  he  puts  the  case  bluntly,  and 
takes  the  consequences.  In  the  second 
case  he  knows  that  he  thinks  he  is  right 
and  so  puts  the  proposition  bluntly  too, 
and  takes  the  consequences. 

"By  bluntly,  I  do  not  mean  roughly, 
but  with  all  good  sense  and  confidence — 
honest  confidence  and  firmness.  When 
you  go  to  other  people  doubtfully,  you 
do  not  impress  them  rightly,  though  you 
may  be  right.  When  you  go  to  them 
strong  and  confident,  the  one  man  gives 
you  a  longer  time  in  which  to  pay  your 
money,  and  the  other  joins  with  you 


130  These  Are  My  Jewels 

like  a  brother  in  your  enterprise.  There 
is  something  between  minds  —  some- 
thing which  we  do  not  understand  as 
yet,  but  which  comes  from  the  good  God 
who  has  arranged  these  things — that 
communicates  itself  between  minds  and 
makes  others  trust  you  or  join  with  you, 
they  could  not  tell  why  themselves. 

"It  is  so  with  the  affairs  of  you  chil- 
dren: it  will  be  so  all  through  life." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   COMMITTEE   OF   INQUIRY. 

"Run  along — I  am  in  a  lazy  mood,  but 
I  will  catch  up  with  you  before  you  get 
home." 

That  was  what  Uncle  Fred  said  as  Jim 
and  I  walked  with  him  along  the  country 
road  that  comes  into  Merrivale  from  the 
woods.  It  was  toward  evening,  and  Jim 
and  I  were  hungry  after  our  long  walk, 
but  we  were  not  tired.  Uncle  Fred  was 
not  tired,  either,  but  I  had  a  feeling  that 
he  wanted  to  be  alone  there  on  the  still 
road,  and  so  Jim  and  I  chased  each  other 
down  the  hill  and  across  the  meadow 
where  the  foot-path  runs  'cross  lots  from 
the  wide,  curving  road,  to  the  town. 

"Queer  about  grown  up  people,"  Jim 

131 


132  These  Are  My  Jewels* 

said,  when  we  came  to  a  walk  in  Potter's 
pasture.  "They  like  to  be  alone  some- 
times, papa  says,  but  boys  like  best  to 
go  in  a  crowd.  Uncle  Fred  is  better 
company  than  any  boy  I  know.  I  won- 
der what  he  wants  to  be  alone  for?  He's 
standing  there  on  top  of  the  hill  and 
does  not  see  us,  or  he  would  wave  his 
hat." 

We  waved  at  him,  but  he  didn't  notice 
us,  so  we  went  on. 

"Did  you  ever  think  that  Uncle  Fred's 
heart  was  broken?"  I  asked. 

"Jim  was  so  surprised  and  tickled  at 
the  idea  that  he  threw  himself  down  on 
the  grass  and  rolled  over  two  or  three 
times  before  he  answered. 

"Heart-broken!  You're  silly!  Men's 
hearts  don't  break.  You  must  think 
Uncle  Fred  is  made  of  something  brit- 
tle!" 

"I  don't  either,"  I  said;  "I'm  in  real 
earnest,  and  you  needn't  laugh.  Mary 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  133 

Duncan  was  speaking,  only  yesterday, 
of  the  change  that  has  come  over  Uncle 
Fred  since  last  summer  when  he  was  so 
much  at  Colonel  Nesbit's." 

"He's  a  lot  jollier,  and  more  with  us 
than  he  was  last  year,  Kit,  and  you  know 
it." 

"But  Jim,"  I  answered,  "there's  no  use 
of  your  denying  it  —  Miss  Nesbit  is  a 
beautiful  young  lady,  and  last  year 
everyone  said  that  Uncle  Fred  was  go- 
ing to  marry  her,  and  they  were  devoted 
to  each  other,  and  now  they  haven't 
really  spoken  yet.  Uncle  Fred  looked 
quite  pale  tonight  and  you  know  we 
met  Miss  Nesbit  again  today  and  they 
were  just  as  stiff  as  ever.  Didn't  she 
look  sweet,  in  her  white  dress?" 

"How  girls  talk!"  was  all  Jim  an- 
swered; then,  after  a  while,  he  said,  in  a 
sort  of  contradicting  way,  "He  is  only 
hungry,"  meaning  Uncle  Fred,  I  sup- 
pose. And  just  then  he  came  loping 


134  These  Are  My  Jewels 

along  after  us  and  we  came  home,  all 
three  together. 

We  had  an  extra  fine  dinner,  and  in 
the  midst  of  it  I  felt  something  against 
me  under  the  tablecloth.  It  was  Jim 
handing  me  a  note  written  on  his  dinner 
napkin  "with  a  blue  pencil,  of  course 
when  mamma  wasn't  looking. 

"Broken  heart  indeed!"  it  said,  "Look 
at  him  eat!" 

My  feelings  were  hurt.  Uncle  Fred 
was  certainty  making  the  spring  lamb 
and  green  peas  look  scary. 

But  we  have  really  been  troubled 
awfully,  all  of  us  children,  I  mean,  un- 
less it  might  be  Jim  and  Sandy,  over 
Uncle  Fred  and  Miss  Nesbit.  We  all 
like  both  of  them  so  that  we've  wanted 
to  have  them  make  up.  I  had  a  long 
talk  with  Mary,  and  we  decided  that 
something  ought  to  be  done,  and  Bllen 
and  Agnes  said  they  would  help,  and  so 
did  even  Johnny  Lane,  who  said  it  was 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  135 

what  he  esteemed  an  important  matter, 
and  we  liked  him  for  it,  even  if  he  does 
sometimes  use  such  dignified  words. 
We  made  a  firm  resolution. 

So,  that  evening,  though  Jim  had 
passed  me  such  a  scornful  note  at  table> 
I  had  a  talk  with  him  again  and  he  was 
pretty  good  about  it  and  said,  finally, 
that  he  would  help,  and  get  Sandy  into 
it,  too.  We  planned  a  while  and  Jim  pro- 
posed that  we  call  a  meeting,  to  con- 
sider, he  said,  the  state  of  the  nation 
and  Uncle  Fred.  Then  he  grinned,  and 
used  language  almost  as  large  as  Johnny 
Lane's.  He  had  become  convinced,  he 
declared,  when  he  came  to  revolve  the 
past  in  his  mind,  that  something  was 
far  from  well  with  our  beloved  Uncle. 

Jim  and  Sandy  belong  to  the  Daniel 
Webster  Debating  Society,  made  up  of 
the  boys  in  their  room  at  school.  They 
are  learning  a  great  deal  that  is  useful, 
and  parliamentary  law,  besides.  I  don't 


136  These  Afe  My  Jewels 

know  what  kind  of  law  that  is,  but  I  am 
sure  I  have  spelled  it  right. 

I  was  appointed  to  call  the  meeting 
at  two  o'clock  the  next  day,  under  the 
Farmer's  Graft  apple  tree  at  the  back  of 
our  orchard.  It  was  to  be  a  secret  meet- 
ing, and  everyone  invited  was  given  a 
pass-word.  If  anyone  came  without  that 
word,  he  or  she  could  not  come  over  the 
orchard  fence. 

Jim  took  all  night  to  think  of  the  pass- 
word. In  the  morning  he  first  gave  me 
"Eureka."  Then  he  changed  his  mind 
and  gave  me  a  new  one.  It  was  "Dis- 
cretion." Before  I  started  out  to  de- 
liver the  summons  to  the  committee  he 
wanted  to  change  the  password  again, 
but  I  wouldn't  do  it,  and  so  that  was 
settled.  As  it  happened  I  forgot  and 
gave  the  word  "Eureka"  to  some,  and 
"Discretion"  to  others,  but  Jim  was  door- 
keeper and  let  all  of  the  committee  mem- 
bers in,  no  matter  what  they  said,  and 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  137 

they  all  came,  even  the  Rat;  but  the 
Slann  boys,  when  they  came  about,  -were 
kept  away  most  of  the  time.  They  were 
not  on  the  committee. 

We  did  not  call  John  Peterson  to  this 
meeting,  either.  Jim  said  that  he  did 
not  care  to  have  John  know  about  an 
affair  so  important  to  the  family.  It  was 
all  right  to  take  the  Duncans  and  Lanes 
into  our  confidence,  but  with  Johannes 
burg  Pietersburg  it  was  different. 

Johnn}r  Lane  thought,  when  he  heard 
of  Pietersburg's  being  left  out,  that  Jim 
wanted  to  run  the  committee  himself, 
but  when  Johnny  said  this,  Jim  used 
very  hard  words  and  it  almost  broke  up 
the  meeting,  until  I  called  Jim  to  his 
senses  by  reminding  him  of  what  mam- 
ma had  said  to  us,  only  the  night  before, 
about  self-control. 

"If  you  can  not  rule  yourself,"  she 
said,  "you  can  not  control  anj^one  else." 
And  she  gave  us  the  text  to  learn: 


138  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"He  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit  is 
greater  than  he  that  taketh  a  city." 

Jim  looked  vexed  at  first,  but  he  made 
an  effort  to  keep  calm,  and  came  out 
nobly.  "I  guess  I  can  rule  a  city,"  he 
said. 

"I  nominate  James  Lawson  for  chair- 
man," broke  in  Sandy  Duncan. 

We  all  shouted  "Aye!"  and  Jim  took 
his  seat  in  the  shade,  with  his  back 
against  the  apple  tree. 

"I  will  appoint  John  Lane  secretary," 
he  said,  with  great  dignity,  first  looking 
in  his  little  book  at  the  place  his  thumb 
held  ready  for  him. 

Then  we  all  cheered,  and  Johnny  made 
a  speech  in  which  he  called  Jim  a  "Mag- 
naminous  Hector"  and  compared  him  to 
Aristides  the  Just,  whoever  he  was. 

The  Lane  girls  giggled  at  this  speech; 
but  Mary  and  I,  realizing  the  grave  situ- 
ation, remained  quiet  and  attentive. 

"The  secretary  will  read  the  call  for  this 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  139 

meeting  and  state  its  object,"  remarked 
Jim,  -with  terrible  suddenness,  rising  to 
his  feet.  He  had  looked  at  his  book 
again  during  the  applause.  Now  he 
glared  fiercely  at  Johnny  Lane,  who  had 
perched  upon  a  lower  limb  of  the  tree. 

Johnny  flushed  crimson.  "I  don't 
know  the  object  of  this  meeting — the 
invitations  to  it  were  not  written,"  he 
managed  to  say  at  last,  hopping  off  the 
branch  he  had  been  sitting  on. 

Sandy  and  the  Rat  grinned,  and  then 
I  noticed  that  everyone  was  looking  at 
me,  for  I  had  told  them  all  to  come  to 
the  meeting,  and  had  given  each  one 
the  secret  password. 

Jim  fixed  a  piercing  gaze  upon  me, 
too,  and  said:  "If  there  is  no  objection 
Katherine  Lawson  will  state  the  object 
of  this  meeting." 

This  was  awful.  Here  I  was  called  on 
to  make  a  speech  in  a  meeting!  I  rose 
from  the  ground,  and  tried  to  say  some- 


140  These  Are  My  Jewels 

thing  and  couldn't.  I  just  sort  of  clucked, 
and  then  started  to  run  away. 

"Come  back!"  yelled  Jim,  and  he  ran 
after  me  and  caught  me.  Then  we  all 
sat  down  in  a  ring  on  the  grass  and 
talked  over  the  love  of  Uncle  Fred  and 
Miss  Nesbit  and  its  sad  ending.  t 

We  talked  and  talked,  but  we  couldn't 
seem  to  decide  what  we  could  do  about 
it.  We  all  agreed  that  Uncle  Fred  and 
Miss  Louise  Nesbit  would  make  a  hand- 
some couple,  and  Jim  said  he  had  be- 
gun last  year  to  practice  saying  "Aunt 
Louise,"  to  himself,  and  was  sorry  he 
had  to  drop  it. 

Finally  Jim  settled  our  anxious  fears 
by  making  Johnny  Lane  a  committee  of 
one  to  see  Uncle  Fred,  seriously,  and  I 
was  chosen  to  call  on  Miss  Nesbit  and 
reason  with  her  over  the  blasting  of  all 
Uncle  Fred's  hopes,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  feelings  of  the  rest  of  the  family. 

Then  the  Slann  boys  got  over  the 
fence,  and  the  meeting  broke  up. 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  141 

I  knew  that  if  I  waited  until  night  my 
courage  would  give  way  and,  besides,  I 
might  tell  mamma  too  soon,  and,  as  the 
whole  matter  must  be  kept  within  the 
breasts  of  the  committee,  I  acted  at  once- 
Dressed  in  my  pink  flowered  organdie 
and  my  new  white  hat,  I  started  across 
the  town  to  Colonel  Nesbit's.  Mamma 
had  told  me  that  she  was  going  to  be  in 
that  neighborhood,  making  some  visits, 
and  that  she  would  call  for  me  at  half- 
past  five.  Mamma  didn't  ask  me  why  I 
•was  going  to  see  Miss  Nesbit,  for  she 
knows  I  like  her  very  much  and  often 
spend  a  day  with  her,  and  mamma  says 
there  could  be  no  better  company  for 
anyone  than  that  very  young  lady. 

It  was  a  tremendous  moment  to  me, 
this  time,  when  I  found  myself  sitting 
in  Miss  Nesbit's  room  with  her,  while 
she  sewed  upon  a  new  gown  for  her 
mother.  The  Nesbits  used  to  be  rich 
people,  but  a  few  years  ago  Colonel 


142  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Nesbit  lost  his  property  by  some  mis- 
fortune, and  lately  it  has  been  pretty 
hard  for  him  to  get  along.  He  is  a  brave 
old  soldier  and  a  very  highly  respected 
gentleman.  Papa  says  no  one  in  all  the 
country  round  is  more  thought  of  than 
Colonel  Nesbit.  Miss  Louise  always 
makes  her  own  gowns,  and  her  mother's, 
and  mamma  says  they  are  the  best 
dressed  women  in  Merrivale;  that  is, 
they  are  dressed  in  the  best  taste. 

I  watched  Miss  Louise  as  she  gathered 
a  long,  long  ruffle,  and  at  last  I  got  cour- 
age enough  to  speak. 

"Dear  Miss  Louise,"  I  began,  "don't 
you  intend  ever  to  be  married?" 

"Why,  what  a  question!"  she  answered, 
and  her  cheeks  were  as  red  as  roses. 

"Because,"  I  went  on,  very  slowly,  for 
I  was  scared,  "if  you  ever  marry  any 
man  but  Uncle  Fred,  there  will  be  a 
broken  heart  right  here  in  Merrivale, 
and  if  you  don't  marry  at  all  I  am  afraid 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  143 

there  will  still  be  a  heart  nearly  broken." 

Miss  Nesbit  didn't  say  a  single  word. 
She  only  thought  a  little  while  and  then 
took  me  by  my  hands  and  drew  me  close 
to  her  and  kissed  me,  and  then  she  began 
to  put  away  her  work,  and  took  up  her 
hat  and  we  went  into  the  garden.  There 
she  began  to  hum  a  little  tune  and  cut  a 
lot  of  flowers.  I  just  followed  her  around 
like  Mary's  little  lamb,  and  while  we 
were  out  there  in  the  garden  mamma 
drove  up  in  her  phaeton,  and  we  ran  to 
her  and  fairly  buried  her  in  roses,  and 
pinks  and  lilies. 

All  this  time  Miss  Nesbit  said  hardly 
a  word  to  me,  but  when  we  went  away 
she  kissed  me  again  and  I  knew  she  was 
not  offended.  But  I  almost  cried  as  I  sat 
by  mamma's  side  on  our  way  home. 

I  had  failed,  completely  failed,  in  my 
important  mission! 

I  did  not  hear  until  later  how  Johnny 
had  fared.  It  took  him  some  time  to  get 


144  These  Are  My  Jewels 

alone  with  Uncle  Fred,  but  one  day  a 
chance  came,  when  they  were  fishing 
near  each  other  and  the  fish  wouldn't 
bite. 

Johnny  told  Jim,  and  Jim  told  me  what 
was  said;  but  Johnny  never  talked  to  me 
about  it. 

"Mr.  Rathburn,"  began  Johnny,  sol- 
emnly, "do  you  feel  in  your  inmost  soul, 
that  it  is  good  for  man  to  live  alone?" 

Uncle  Fred  looked  at  Johnny  almost 
wildly,  so  Johnny  told  Jim. 

"I  mean,"  Johnny  went  on,  "is  it  well 
to  ignore  the  best  and  brightest  things 
in  life,  and  settle  down  to  live  in  splen- 
did solitude  when  all  around  are  happy 
homes  to  mock  at  your  despair?" 

Johnny  couldn't  tell  Jim  what  he 
meant  exactly  by  splendid  solitude,  but 
he  thought  the  words  went  well  to- 
gether, and  they  do. 

What  do  you  think  Uncle  Fred  did  at 
this  important  moment? 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  145 

Why,  he  just  lay  back  on  the  bank 
of  Indian  Creek  and  rolled  over  and 
laughed  until  the  sound  brought  all  the 
other  boys  to  him,  for  they  were  scat- 
tered along  the  creek,  trying  to  fish,  and 
wondering  where  Johnny  was.  At  one 
glance  all  of  them  knew  that  Johnny 
had  undertaken  his  task  as  a  committee 
of  one,  and  had  failed  to  get  satisfaction 
from  Uncle  Fred. 

The  committee  of  inquiry  met  once 
more  to  hear  of  what  had  happened, 
and  all  agreed  with  Johnny,  when  he 
handed  in  a  carefully  written  out  report 
of  one  line,  saying,  "The  whole  affair 
has  ended  in  Black  Failure!" 

We  had  meant  so  well,  and  it  all  came 
to  nothing!  We  felt  very  deeply  over  it, 
especially  Mary  and  I. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   GREAT   KOPJE   FIGHT. 

The  great  Kopje  Fight  came  about 
through  John  Peterson.  He  had  been 
insisting  again  that  the  boys  should 
call  him  Johannesburg  Pietersburg,  and 
they  wouldn't  do  it  because  they  de- 
clared that,  just  as  they  had  told  him 
before,  it  "was  too  long  a  nickname.  He 
became  indignant  and  said  they  should 
call  him  -what  he  pleased,  and  if  there 
had  been  only  one  of  them  he  might 
have  been  obliged,  for  he  is  nearly  six- 
teen and  is  big  and  strong  and  only 
goes  out  with  the  boys  Saturday  after- 
noons, when  he  doesn't  have  to  work. 
Finally,  Johnny  Lane  proposed  that 
they  should  decide  it  "by  gage  of  bat- 
tle," whatever  that  may  be,  and  it  -was 
agreed  to. 

140 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  147 

John  was  to  defend  what  they  called  a 
Kopje,  and,  if  all  the  boys  could  drive 
him  away  from  it,  they  should  have  the 
right  to  call  him  any  name  they  chose; 
while,  if  John  held  the  fort  they  were, 
ever  afterward,  to  call  him  Johannes- 
burg Pietersburg. 

At  one  place  on  the  rocky  hill  on  one 
side  of  the  pasture  lot  a  big  flat  rock 
sticks  out  from  a  steep  place  behind, 
about  eight  feet  up,  and  this  was  to  be 
the  Kopje.  John  Peterson  and  all  the 
other  boys  except  the  Rat  —  who  they 
said  wasn't  big  enough  to  be  of  any 
good — got  long  poles,  with  a  flour-bag 
tied  around  one  end  of  each,  so  that  they 
couldn't  hurt  much,  and  John  Peterson 
climbed  up  to  his  Kopje  and  told  them 
to  come  on.  It  was  agreed  that  no  one 
should  throw  a  stone  or  a  club  or  lump 
of  clay. 

It  was  an  awful  battle!  The  boys 
rushed  up  frantically  and  speared  at 


148  These  Are  My  Jewels 

John  Peterson,  but  he  put  his  back 
against  the  hill  and  they  couldn't  move 
him.  They  didn't  get  off  so  well  them- 
selves. John  has  long  arms  and  he 
caught  them  in  the  chest,  one  after  an- 
other, as  they  rushed  upon  him,  and 
over  they  went,  until  Johnny  Lane  de- 
clared the  ground  was  "littered  with  the 
slain."  Sandy  went  over  into  a  mud-hole 
and  came  out  a  sight.  Time  and  time 
again  they  charged,  while  Jim  yelled, 
"Die  game!"  and  Johnny  Lane  loudly 
recited,  "Strike  for  your  altars  and  your 
fires!"  but  they  couldn't  dislodge  the 
enemy.  They  were  getting  tired  and 
gloomy  and  John  Peterson  was  "walking 
back  and  forth  on  his  rock,  shouting  out, 
"I  be  Johannesburg  Pietersburg!"  when 
"spat!"  something  struck  the  stony  hill- 
side, close  behind  him. 

John  Peterson  gave  a  jump  and  shout 
and  then,  "spat"  and  "splash,"  some- 
thing struck  again  and  something  yel- 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  149 

low  ran  down  from  his  shoulder.  He 
seemed  almost  to  stagger.  The  boys 
stood  amazed  for  a  moment  and  then 
all  "whooped  wildly  when  they  discov- 
ered what  was  going  on.  No  wonder 
John  Peterson  looked  sick. 

There,  behind  a  big  stump,  at  one  side 
but  pretty  close  to  the  Kopje,  stood  the 
Rat,  grinning  with  pride  and  just  draw- 
ing his  arm  back  for  another  throw.  In 
his  hand  was  something  white,  but  at 
first  they  couldn't  tell  what  it  was.  He 
let  it  go  with  all  his  might  and  then, 
when  it  struck  and  was  crushed  against 
the  rock  behind  John  Peterson,  and 
something  yellow  splashed  about,  they 
knew. 

One  of  the  Duncans'  hens  had  been 
sitting  for  over  two  weeks  on  fourteen 
eggs,  in  a  nest  in  the  barn.  The  nest 
was  under  a  manger  in  a  stall  which 
was  not  used  in  the  stable  part,  but  a 
horse  put  in  the  next  stall  kicked  down 


150  These  Are  My  Jewels 

the  partition  and  the  hen  got  frightened 
and  finally  left  her  nest  altogether.  The 
boys  found  the  eggs  and  broke  one  of 
them.  That  was  enough!  The  smell 
was  something  awful,  and  they  got 
away  in  a  hurry,  leaving  the  rest  of  the 
eggs  just  where  they  were.  The  despised 
Rat,  who  the  rest  of  the  boys  said  would 
be  of  no  use  in  the  great  battle,  had 
heard  the  agreement  that  there  should 
be  no  bombarding,  as  Johnny  Lane 
called  it,  with  clubs  or  stones  or  dried 
clay  lumps,  had  hung  around  very 
gloomily  for  a  while  and  then  suddenly 
ran  away.  No  one  could  tell  what 
possessed  him,  but  it  must  have  come 
into  his  mind  that  eggs  were  not  barred, 
and  so  the  little  wretch  had  run  after 
those  awful  things  in  the  barn  and  come 
back  with  his  hat  nearly  full  of  them. 

The  boys  gave  a  tremendous  shout  as 
the  Rat  threw  again,  this  time  hitting 
John  Peterson  and  smashing  the  egg  all 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  151 

over  his  breast,  for,  though  the  Rat  is 
small,  he  is  a  good  thrower.  John  Peter- 
son gasped  and  strangled  and  got  whiter 
yet  and  the  boys  gave  a  great  shout  and 
charged  again,  but  they  didn't  charge 
far;  they  got  close  to  the  Kopje,  then 
stopped  suddenly  and  then  all  backed 
awa}T,  looking  queer.  John  Peterson  let 
his  spear  fall  and  almost  fell  himself,  as 
he  climbed  to  the  ground  and  staggered 
quite  a  way  off  and  lay  down  in  the 
grass. 

"You  win!"  he  said,  quite  nobly  I 
thought.  "My  name  be  John  Peterson.'' 

He  got  better  pretty  soon  and  took  off 
his  coat  and  rolled  it  up  to  be  washed, 
and  then  concluded  to  join  the  celebra- 
tion. The  bo}rs  called  him  "a  noble  foe," 
and  he  said  they  were  "bully  boys." 

Johnny  Lane  took  charge  of  the  cele- 
bration. They  put  the  Rat  on  a  stump 
and  pinned  some  red  leaves  on  his 
shoulder,  for  epaulets,  and  Sandy  hit 


152  These  Are  My  Jewels 

him  with  a  little  stick,  to  "Knight"  him, 
he  said,  and  make  him  "a  Peer  of  the 
rellum."  The  Rat  tried  to  get  away,  but 
couldn't,  and  Johnny  Lane  declared  it 
was  "a  glorious  ending  to  a  campaign 
red  with  carnage." 

Jim  asked  Uncle  Fred  in  the  evening 
if  the  Rat's  eggs  were  fair  fighting,  and 
Uncle  Fred  looked  solemn  and  answered 
in  loud  words,  that  he  had  "never  heard 
of  anything  definitely  prohibiting  the 
use  of  eggs  as  projectiles  in  the  conduct 
of  civilized  warfare."  That  didn't  inter- 
est me  much,  for  I  was  thinking  of  the 
next  night,  when  we  were  to  go  into  the 
woods. 

The  big  wood  reaches  back  into  a 
great  swamp  where  the  ground  is  low, 
and  there  are  tamarack  and  black  ash 
trees  and  dark  thickets.  The  creek  runs 
through  the  swamp,  and  in  the  middle  is 
a  great  spreading  pond,  with  pools  all 
around  it,  where  there  are  rushes  and 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  153 

cat-tails,  and  in  places  where  the  ground 
is  a  little  higher  in  spots,  there  are 
massive  clumps  of  dark  ferns.  The 
swamp  is  of  no  use  for  farming,  and  so 
it  had  been  left  just  as  it  is,  a  damp,  low 
place  with  such  birds  and  creatures  in 
it  as  do  not  prefer  the  higher  "woods  and 
more  sunlight.  In  the  daytime  it  is  very 
still. 

Not  far  from  the  swamp,  on  one  side, 
where  there  is  cleared  land,  is  a  corn- 
field, and  the  farmer  who  owned  it  had 
complained  that  the  raccoons  were  tear- 
ing down  and  eating  the  corn,  which 
was  just  ripe  enough  for  them.  There  is 
an  old  man  who  lives  in  the  Flats  who 
owns  what  he  calls  "a  coon  dog,"  and 
Uncle  Fred  told  Jim  that  if  he  and  Sandy 
could  borrow  that  dog  we  would  all  go 
cooning  together.  They  arranged  with 
the  old  man  somehow  and  brought  the 
dog  home. 

Of  course  a  girl  is  not  always  expected 


154  These  Are  My  Jewels 

to  be  a  judge  of  dogs,  but  I  know  that 
this  was  not  a  noble-looking  one.  He 
was  yellow  and  had  only  the  very  stub 
of  a  tail  and  one  ear  which  hung  down 
limply.  They  said  the  dog  was  part 
beagle,  which  must  be  some  utihapp}^ 
kind  of  dog  by  nature,  for  this  one  had 
the  most  melancholy  look  on  his  face 
I  ever  saw  on  anything. 

Night  came  and  we  all  started  out, 
Uncle  Fred  and  Jim  and  Sandy  and  I. 
Jim  carried  a  lantern  and  it  seemed 
curious  when  we  got  away  from  town 
and  close  to  the  field,  there  was  so  little 
sound.  The  night  was  dark  but  the  air 
was  soft  and  the  smell  of  the  growing 
corn  was  delicious.  We  climbed  the 
fence  and  went  along  silently  between 
the  tall  rows  until  we  got  nearly  to  the 
middle  of  the  field  and  then  Uncle  Fred 
said  "Find  'em,"  and  the  dog  slipped 
away  out  of  sight,  with  his  nose  close  to 
the  ground  and  sniffing  as  he  went,  We 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  155 

waited  and  waited,  and  then,  away  off  in 
front  of  us,  we  heard  a  yelp.  We  hurried 
on  until  we  got  to  the  fence  close  to 
the  woods,  and  soon  we  heard  the  sound 
again,  only  it  wasn't  like  the  first,  a  yelp, 
but  an"oo-oo-oo,"  a  sort  of  long  cry  which 
wasn't  either  a  bark  or  a  howl,  but  just 
something  mellow  and  eager. 

Now  we  were  in  for  it.  We  climbed 
that  fence  and  were  in  the  woods,  stum- 
bling ahead  after  Jim  with  the  lantern. 
I  had  a  very  short  dress  on  and  my 
thickest  shoes  and  got  along  almost  as 
well  as  the  boys,  with  Uncle  Fred's  help 
in  getting  over  the  logs  we  came  to.  At 
last  we  reached  the  swamp  but  we  didn't 
stop,  and  kept  on  until  we  got  to  the 
shores  of  the  big  pond  in  its  very  center. 
Oh,  but  it  was  dark  there!  You  could 
barely  see  the  water  Away  off,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  pond,  the  dog  was  still 
making  that  strange  noise.  All  at  once 
he  stopped,  and  began  a  deep  barking. 


156  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"He's  treed  the  coon,"  said  Uncle  Fred. 

The  boys  were  wild  and  were  going  to 

rush  forward   at   once,  but  Uncle  Fred 

3 

stopped  them. 

"It's  a  hard  way  around  the  pond,"  he 
said.  "There  are  fallen  logs  and  plenty 
of  water  holes,  and  I  think  we'd  better 
not  try  to  take  Kit  along.  Are  you 
afraid?"  he  said,  as  he  turned  to  me.  "It 
will  test  your  pluck,  my  girl,  for  we've 
got  to  take  the  lantern  along  and  it  will 
be  dark  and  black  here  and  you  will  hear 
some  queer  sounds.  There'll  be  nothing 
to  hurt  you,  though.  Dare  you  stay?" 

At  first  I  almost  shrieked.  I  trembled 
all  over  at  the  thought  of  the  blackness 
and  the  loneliness  and  of  what  there 
might  be  about  me,  and  I  didn't  answer. 
Then  I  happened  to  think  of  what  I  had 
been  taught,  that  there  was  nothing 
about  darkness  to  be  afraid  of,  and  that 
God  would  be  with  me,  anyhow,  and  I 
set  my  teeth  together  as  hard  as  I  could. 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  157 

After  a  moment  or  two,  I  managed  to  say 
that  I'd  stay. 

"You've  got  the  right  idea,  and  you've 
got  courage,  Kit,"  said  Uncle  Fred,  and 
he  kissed  me,  and  they  made  a  fine  seat 
for  me  by  a  big  tree  close  to  the  water, 
and  away  they  went.  I  could  hear  their 
voices  and  see  the  light  of  the  lantern 
bobbing  about  for  a  little  while  and  then 
all  was  black  and  still. 

It  seemed  as  if  I  could  hardly  breathe. 
Pretty  soon  I  thought  I  heard  a  slight 
sound  in  the  rushes  growing  in  the 
water  near  me,  and  soon  I  was  sure  of 
it.  There  was  a  rustle  and  then  a  splash- 
ing in  the  water  and  I  knew  something 
was  moving  about.  There  was  a  sound 
almost  like  a  whisper  and  then  a  "tweet, 
tweet,"  and  more  splashing.  I  never 
moved.  Suddenly  I  jumped  to  my  feet 
in  awful  terror.  "Ah-rr-oomp!  Ah-rr- 
oomp!  Ba-rr-oomp!"  came  a  great  bel- 
lowing from  the  edge  of  the  pond  close 


158  These  Are  My  Jewels 

beside  me.  I  stood  shaking.  Then  the 
great  sound  came  again,  and  I  stood  it  a 
little  more  bravely  and  could  begin  to 
think  a  little.  I  knew  what  it  must  be; 
it  was  only  some  huge  bullfrog  who 
happened  to  have  his  home  there  and 
who  had  been  frightened  away  when  we 
came  up  noisily  with  the  lantern.  My 
courage  came  back,  and  I  sank  down 
very  quietly  and  slowly  into  my  seat 
again. 

The  next  minute  there  was  the  softest 
kind  of  whirr  and  I  knew  something 
had  passed  close  over  my  head.  Then, 
a  few  moments  later,  came  the  wild, 
dreadful  hoot  of  an  owl  somewhere  in 
the  woods.  It  was  that,  I  suppose,  which 
had  flown  over  me.  The  echoes  had 
scarcely  stopped  when  there  was  a  sort 
of  snarling  scuffle  somewhere  along  the 
shore  and  I  knew  that  coons  were  quar- 
reling, for  I  had  seen  a  tame  coon  once, 
and  heard  the  noise  he  made  when 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  159 

angry.  It  gave  me  a  queer  feeling, 
though,  there  in  the  gloom. 

All  at  once,  there  shone  a  light  spot 
away  out  in  the  water,  and  it  grew  and 
grew  until  it  covered  nearly  half  the 
pond.  The  thick  clouds  that  had  hidden 
all  the  sky  had  parted  for  a  moment 
and  let  a  dim  bit  of  moonlight  through. 
Across  the  light  space  were  darting 
streaks  and  soon  there  came  into  plain 
sight  a  small  black  head  of  something 
swimming  which  passed  across  the 
light  spot  and  was  gone.  Then  the 
clouds  came  together  again  and  all 
seemed  darker  and  more  mysterious 
than  before. 

But,  somehow,  I  was  not  afraid.  I 
kept  saying  to  myself  two  of  the  verses 
we  had  been  taught,  and  all  seemed  well. 
The  verses  were: 

"There  shall  no  evil  befall  thee." 

"The  Lord  is  on  my  side;  I  will  not 
fear." 


160  These  Are  My  Jewels 

How  could  I  really  be  afraid!  It  was 
all  new  to  me  and  unknown,  but  I  was 
safe.  I  could  feel  it,  and  I  leaned  back 
against  the  tree,  and  fairly  drank  in 
everything  that  came  to  my  senses. 
There  were  two  sounds  that  never 
ceased.  One  was  just  a  soft  sighing  of 
the  wind  through  the  leaves  of  the  trees* 
and  the  other  a  drowsy  humming  of  all 
the  insects  of  the  night.  The  sounds 
blended  together  and  I  don't  think  that 
I  ever  heard  anything  so  deliciously 
sleepy  before.  My  seat  was  comfortable 
and  I  leaned  back  against  the  tree  and, 
finally,  my  head  began  to  nod  and  all 
the  sounds  came  dimmer  and  dimmer, 
but  I  didn't  care.  I  was  only  glad.  I 
remember  repeating  another  text  just  as 
I  do  nights  when  I  feel  I  am  going  to 
sleep  at  home. 

"I  will  lay  me  down  in  peace  and 
sleep,  for  thou,  Lord,  only  maketh  me  to 
dwell  in  safety,"  and  that  was  all.  I 


The  Great  Kopje  Fight  161 

awoke  with  a  start.  "Gulp,  gulp!  Gur- 
gle, gurgle!  Oomp!"  It  was  the  queerest 
sound  yet.  I'd  never  heard  anything 
like  it,  but  it  wasn't  alarming.  It  was 
only  something  to  startle  a  little  and 
then  to  seem  almost  ridiculous.  I  learned 
afterward  what  it  was,  just  as  I  learned 
about  the  other  creatures  I  heard  or  saw 
that  night.  It  was  a  kind  of  small  heron 
which  is  very  common  and  in  the  coun- 
try is  called  by  odd  names  such  as  "fly- 
up-the-creek"  or  "shitepoke."  One  of 
the  names  is  "thunder-pump,"  which 
seems  to  me  a  very  good  one  for  it,  con- 
sidering the  absurd  sound  it  makes. 

I  was  wide  awake  again  now  and  I 
made  myself  comfortable  once  more  and 
listened.  There  were  more  sounds  break- 
ing in  all  the  time  on  the  softness  and 
silence  and  I  fairly  reveled  in  it  all.  I 
was  learning  more  and  more  about  some 
of  God's  creatures  and  their  home  lives 
and  I  just  loved  them.  Then  there  came 


162  These  Are  My  Jewels 

a  shout  and  I  called  back  as  loud  as  I 
could,  and  soon  I  heard  the  voices  of  the 
bo3*s  and  saw  the  light  of  the  lantern. 
They  were  all  with  me  in  no  time.  They 
had  not  caught  the  coon  for  it  had  gone 
up  too  big  a  tree,  but  they'd  had  plenty 
of  excitement,  they  said.  I  was  kind  of 
gl  id  the  coon  had  got  away. 

It  doesn't  seem  necessary  to  tell  all 
Uncle  Fred  said  to  me  about  what  he 
called  my  courage,  but,  while  I  liked  it, 
I  knew  that  there  had  been  no  need  of 
courage  at  all.  It  had  turned  into  a 
great  pleasure  and  made  me  very  happy. 
It  had  been  a  wonderful  night.  I  got, 
somehow,  closer  to  God's  creatures  and 
I  hope  it  made  me  better  and  more  un- 
derstanding about  the  Caring  that  is 
everything. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PRIDE   BEFORE   A  FALL. 

Now  I  come  to  something  I  don't  like 
to  tell  about,  but  I  must. 

Jim  and  I  had  been  getting  along 
pretty  well  in  our  new  way  of  living, 
but  we  both  found  out  that  some  of  our 
faults  were  pretty  hard  to  get  rid  of. 
I'm  afraid  I  have  quite  a  bad  temper,  arid 
it  is  only  by  constant  thinking  of  what 
is  good,  and  true,  and  kind  that  I  can 
keep  it  down.  As  for  Jim,  he  is,  I  think, 
a  pretty  good  brother  ;  but  he  says  that 
he  has  found  out  his  "mean  streak,"  and 
that,  according  to  him,  is  too  much  love 
for  one  Jim  L/awson — his  way. 

We  have  had  more  or  less  trouble 
to  keep  always  thoughtful  and  good 
natured,  according  to  mamma's  instruc- 
tions, and  once  in  a  while,  when  we 

163 


164  These  Are  My  Jewels 

have  been  discouraged,  we  have  had  a 
good  long  talk  with  papa  and  mamma, 
and  then  we  would  start  in  all  over 
again  feeling  as  if  we  could  not  fail  in 
the  plain,  straight  way  they  showed  us. 

But  I'm  only  keeping  back  my  story. 
What  I  mean  to  say  is  that  Jim  and  I 
can't  pretend  to  be  anything  more  than 
a  couple  of  children  trying  to  live  right 
and  think  right,  but  sometimes  we  fail 
to  be  even  half-way  decent. 

We  had  been  planning,  for  days,  to 
have  the  best  time  in  all  the  world  on 
July  fifteenth,  Jim's  birthday.  Uncle 
Fred  promised  to  devote  the  day  to 
us,  and  we  voted  to  spend  it  in  the 
woods,  inviting  Mary,  Agnes  arid  Ellen, 
Johnny  Lane,  Johannesburg  Pieters- 
burg,  and  Alexander  and  the  Rat  as 
our  guests  for  all  day. 

Mamma  helped  us  and  we  planned 
baskets  of  good  things  to  eat  to  last  the 
day  through,  even  for  a  dozen  hungry 
people. 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  165 

All  went  well  until  the  day  before  the 
picnic,  when  who  should  drop  down,  as 
if  out  of  the  skies,  but  Aunt  Flo  and  her 
two  children,  Joe  and  Carrie. 

Aunt  Flo  lives  on  a  farm  in  the  West, 
and  she  hasn't  been  East  to  visit  since 
she  went  away  as  a  bride,  years  and 
years  ago,  before  I  was  born. 

Mamma  was  so  glad  to  see  her  sister 
that  she  laughed  and  cried  at  once,  and 
papa  said  that  there  should  be  a  holiday 
all  the  time  while  we  visited  together. 
We  could  see  that  he  and  Uncle  Fred 
were  as  glad  to  see  Aunt  Flo  as  mamma 
was. 

But,  oh,  if  I  could  describe  to  you 
how  queer  Cousin  Joe  and  Cousin 
Carrie  looked !  Their  faces  were  red 
and  freckled  and  their  hands  were  as 
brown  as  an  oak  leaf  in  the  fall.  And 
their  clothes  didn't  look  as  if  they  were 
made  for  them  at  all,  but  they  were,  for 
Carrie  told  me  that  her  mamma  made 


166  These  Are  My  Jewels 

everything  she  and  Joe  owned,  even 
their  best,  which  they  had  worn  on  the 
railroad  train,  coming  from  Kansas.  It 
was  their  "best"  that  they  looked  so 
funny  in. 

But  Jim  found  out  that  Joe  could 
swim  better  than  he  could,  and  that  he 
knew  all  about  fishing,  and  could  tell  a 
meadow-lark  or  a  bobolink  or  almost 
any  other  bird  as  far  off  as  he  could  see 
or  hear  one.  And  Joe  could  turn  hand- 
springs "to  beat  the  band,"  Jim  said,  and 
he  could  lift  heavy  weights,  and  throw  a 
ball  straight,  and  so  it  didn't  take  him 
long  to  get  in  with  all  of  the  boys. 

As  for  Carrie,  her  hair  was  "shingled" 
she  said,  when  I  asked  her  what  had 
happened  to  it,  and  she  could  run  fast, 
and  that  was  about  all  I  had  found 
out  about  her  by  the  morning  of  the 
fifteenth,  Jim's  birthday. 

Mamma  and  Aunt  Flo  had  been  help- 
ing the  cook,  and  so  the  lunch- baskets 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  167 

were  filled  with  good  things  and,  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  started  from 
home  to  call  for  the  Duncans  and  the 
Lanes,  as  we  went  toward  the  big  woods 
where  Uncle  Fred  had  chosen  our  camp 
for  the  day. 

Uncle  Fred  led  Cousin  Carrie  by  the 
hand.  Her  pink  calico  dress  was  fresh 
and  clean,  and  her  hat  had  some  faded 
pink  roses  in  it,  and  she  wore  white 
stockings  and  thin  shoes — I  can't  tell 
what  there  was  about  her  that  looked 
queer,  but  somehow,  she  did  seem  dif- 
ferent from  any  of  the  other  girls,  and 
I  kept  walking  and  talking  with  Mary 
Duncan  and  the  Lane  girls,  and  when 
we  happened  to  meet  Miss  Louise  Nes- 
bit  on  the  road  as  we  crossed  from  the 
pasture,  I  hung  back  and  sort  of  acted 
as  if  I  didn't  know  who  the  girl  in  the 
pink  frock,  walking  with  Uncle  Fred, 
was. 

The      disgraceful      truth      is,     I     was 


168  These  Are  My  Jewels 

ashamed  of  Cousin  Carrie,  and  I  made 
believe  to  the  other  girls  that  she  was 
a  very  distant  relation  of  ours,  one 
scarcely  to  be  counted  at  all,  and  as  her 
name  was  Digby  and  had  never  been 
heard  by  any  of  us  before,  this  seemed 
quite  natural  to  them. 

We  noticed  that  Uncle  Fred  bowed 
very  coldly  to  Miss  Nesbit,  who  was 
riding  her  own  bay  horse,  Leander,  and 
that  Miss  Nesbit  only  just  bent  her  head 
a  little,  as  she  saw  Uncle  Fred.  But  she 
blushed  until  her  cheeks  were  rosy,  and 
they  are  generally  quite  pale. 

It  is  sad  to  see  lovers  parted. 

When  we  came  to  the  creek  there  were 
the  Slann  boys  wading  for  minnows,  for 
bait.  They  grinned  when  they  saw  us 
with  our  baskets,  hammocks,  fishing 
rods,  and  all,  and  when  we  had  crossed 
the  creek  they  tagged  us  along  through 
the  edge  of  the  woods  until,  finally,  Uncle 
Fred  called  Jim  to  him  and,  speaking  low, 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  169 

so  that  the  Slann  boys  could  not  hear, 
said: 

"Jim,  this  is  your  day:  "would  you  like 
to  invite  Viggo  and  Max  to  go  along?" 

"Cert!"  said  Jim,  and  he  ran  back  to 
the  Slanns,  and  brought  them  up  to 
Uncle  Fred,  and  soon  the  boys  were  all 
running  races  and  chasing  through  the 
woods  in  the  direction  of  our  camping- 
place,  Cousin  Carrie  in  the  midst  of  the 
runners. 

"I  am  afraid  that  Digby  girl  is  a  tom- 
boy!" I  said,  to  Mary  Duncan,  and  felt 
my  cheeks  burn  with  anger. 

"Your  Uncle  Fred  seems  to  like  her 
very  much,  said  Mary. 

"Oh  no,  he  doesn't!"  I  replied,  quickly. 
"She  is  a  stranger  and  so  he  has  to  be 
polite  to  her." 

"It  is  a  wonder  you  don't  try  a  little 
politeness  on  your  cousin,  yourself,"  said 
Marj^.  The  Scotch  are  a  blunt  people. 

I  flew  into  a  rage  and  before  I  knew 


170  These  Are  My  Jewels 

what  I  had  said  all  three  of  the  girls 
were  around  me,  half  crying,  and  we 
were  all  chattering  and  scolding  so  fast 
we  must  have  astonished  the  bluejays 
and  made  them  envy  us. 

We  were  close  by  Ford's  Pond,  and  as 
we  skirted  the  swamp  at  one  end  of  the 
clear  water,  we  suddenly,  all  four  of  us, 
were  frozen  stiff  with  horror,  at  the  sight 
we  saw.  Viggo  Slann  was  coming  run- 
ning toward  us  with  three  or  four  long, 
dark  things  dangling  from  his  hand. 

"He's  got  a  whole  nest  of  snakes!" 
shouted  Agnes,  and  then  we  ran!  Never 
did  I  run  so  fast  in  my  life!  We  scrambled 
over  logs  and  brush-heaps  and  fences, 
and  all  the  time  that  awful  Viggo  was 
running  at  our  heels,  shouting.  Once  I 
heard  him  cry,  "Stop!  I  hurt  you  not!" 
but  I  only  ran  the  faster.  We  never 
halted  until  we  came  to  Uncle  Fred, 
calmly  sitting  on  a  stump  and  waiting 
for  us. 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  171 

"What's  up?"  he  asked,  surprised  as 
we  all  threw  ourselves  upon  him. 

"Viggo!  Snakes!"  was  all  we  could 
pant  out. 

Then  Viggo  came  up,  breathing  hard. 
I  couldn't  look  straight  at  him,  but,  from 
under  Uncle  Fred's  arm  I  just  glanced 
that  way,  and  I  could  see  him  holding 
up  his  hand — and  something  dangling — 
and  then  I  just  screamed  again  and  hid 
my  eyes. 

"Look  up,  child,"  said  Uncle  Fred, 
laughing.  "Look;  see  what  Viggo  has. 
It  is  not  a  snake!" 

I  looked,  and  Viggo  came  toward  us 
again,  holding  at  arm's  length  a  bunch 
of  big  white  water-lilies,  with  their 
long,  brown  stems  dangling  almost  to 
the  ground. 

He  took  off  the  rim  of  the  hat  he  wore, 
for  it  hadn't  any  crown  to  speak  of,  and 
awkwardly  bending  over,  gave  a  stiff 
nod  of  his  head  and  said: 


172  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"For  de  birt'day  table!" 

"Viggo,  you're  a  fine  fellow,"  said 
Uncle  Fred,  and  Viggo  ran  away  grin- 
ning so  hard  it  almost  showed  at  the 
back  of  his  head. 

After  that,  we  girls  walked  on  with 
Uncle  Fred,  and  he  told  us  the  names  of 
new  birds  we  saw  and  helped  us  to  know 
their  notes  and  songs,  and  before  we 
knew  it  Carrie  was  strolling  along  in 
the  group,  listening  to  all  that  was  said, 
and  once  in  a  .while  saying  something 
herself  in  the  slow,  drawling  way  in 
which  she  and  Joe  talked. 

When  we  came  to  the  big  trees,  our 
chosen  picnic  place,  it  was  beautiful, 
sitting  in  the  shade,  telling  stories  and 
chatting  while  Uncle  Fred  and  the  boys 
amused  themselves  about  the  pool  made 
by  the  brook  near  by.  There  were  lots  of 
dragon-flies  about,  some  of  them  splen- 
did with  their  big,  bright-colored  wings. 
The  boys  caught  one  and  had  a  great 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  173 

time  examining  it  and  telling  stories  of  it. 
The  dragon-flies  catch  and  eat  smaller  in- 
sects, and  many  people  call  them  "mos- 
quito hawks,"  but,  mostly,  they  are  called 
"Devil's  darning  needles."  There  is  a 
story  that  they  will  sew  up  your  lips 
with  thread  made  out  of  spider's  web,  if 
you  talk  too  much.  Of  course  that  can't 
be  true,  but,  when  we  were  younger,  we 
girls  never  much  liked  to  be  about  where 
they  were. 

Carrie,  after  sitting  still  for  a  while, 
bent  down  a  young  tree,  and  called  to 
Ellen  to  come  and  "teeter"  with  her.  So 
the  two  thrashed  up  and  down  and  sung, 
and  had  a  jolly  time,  until  Agnes  joined 
them,  and  Mary  said,  "Carrie  knows  how 
to  have  a  good  time,  doesn't  she?" 

But  I  only  turned  away  my  head  and 
said,  "I  don't  know  anything  about  her!" 

We  had  a  fine  day  in  the  woods,  but, 
by  night,  Carrie  would  not  stay  any- 
where near  me,  and  when  we  started  for 


174  These  Are  My  Jewels 

home  she  ran  on  ahead,  and  reached 
there  half  an  hour,  almost,  before  the 
rest  of  us.  She  had  gone  to  bed  already, 
mamma  said,  and  I  fancied  that  mamma 
looked  a  little  sad  as  she  spoke  of  "Cousin 
Carrie." 

I  hadn't  said  anything  rude  or  cross  to 
Carrie,  the  whole  day  through,  but,  some- 
how, she  knew  I  didn't  like  her  or  that  I 
was  ashamed  of  her  in  her  queer  clothes. 
I  had  felt  that,  all  the  afternoon — yet 
wouldn't  make  myself  change  my  man- 
ner before  Mary  Duncan  and  the  Lane 
girls. 

And  there  was  no  getting  around  it, 
the  day  had  been  spoiled  for  me.  I  tried 
to  pretend  to  myself  that  it  was  the  com- 
ing of  Joe  and  Carrie  that  had  ruined 
everything,  but  deep  down  in  my  heart 
I  knew  better.  It  was  I  who  had  spoiled 
the  day. 

That  night,  while  papa  and  Aunt  Flo 
sat  on  the  porch,  laughing  and  talking, 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  175 

mamma  and  I  had  a  long  visit  in  my 
room,  and  I  gave  out  entirely  and  told 
mamma  everything  that  had  happened 
all  day,  and,  because  I  couldn't  help  tell- 
ing then,  especially  how  hateful  I  had 
been,  I  confessed  even  my  jealousy  over 
Uncle  Fred's  attention  to  Cousin  Carrie, 
for  that  had  been  one  of  the  worst  things 
of  all. 

Mamma  helped  me  ever  so  much.  She 
didn't  say  anything  harsh  but  she  was 
sure  I  had  learned  a  good  lesson  that 
day.  She  said  she  would  leave  all  to  my 
conscience,  at  present,  and  that  the  next 
morning  she  would  talk  with  me  again 
and  try  to  help  me  "overcome  evil  with 
good"  in  my  own  heart. 

The  next  day  mamma  took  pains  to 
get  an  hour  alone  with  me  and  when 
she  began  talking  she  told  me  something 
I  had  heard  a  little  of  before,  but  had 
never  really  attended  to,  about  the  time 
when  she,  herself,  was  a  girl  younger 
than  I  am. 


176  These  Are  My  Jewels 

It  appears  that  Aunt  Flo  and  mamma 
were  orphan  sisters,  children  of  a  clergy- 
man, and  alone  in  the  world.  Aunt  Flo 
"was  several  years  older  than  mamma, 
and  very  highly  educated.  She  taught 
French  and  Latin  in  a  fashionable  girls' 
school,  and  so  supported  her  younger 
sister  Frances,  who  came  in  time  to  be 
my  mother.  Your  uncle  Fred  was  away 
with  a  distant  relation. 

"I  laughed  when  I  saw  Carrie,"  said 
mamma,  "for  excepting  the  sunburn  and 
freckles,  she  looks  almost  exactly  as  I 
did  when  I  was  of  her  age.  And,  although 
her  clothes  are  of  a  little  cheaper  mate- 
rial than  mine  used  to  be,  they  have  the 
same  'homemade'  look  that  mine  had. 

"Ah,  those  little  gowns  and  pinafores! 
How  well  I  remember  dear  Sister  Flo 
working  over  them,  night  after  night, 
after  her  long  day  in  school,  in  order 
that  I  might  be  presentable  among  the 
other  girls. 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  177 

"No  matter  how  tired — how  sleepy — 
she  was,  stitch,  stitch,  would  go  her 
hard-running  sewing-machine,  and  on — 
on  —  would  fly  her  busy  fingers,  until 
long  after  I  was  asleep.  My  school  bills 
were  paid  by  Sister  Flo's  exertion,  and  I 
in  my  plain  garments  was  like  a  little 
gray  wren  in  a  convention  of  red  birds. 
The  girls  at  our  school  wore  the  daintiest 
of  expensive  gowns,  hats  and  cloaks, 
and,  more  than  once,  I  was  taunted  \vith 
allusions  to  my  unfashionable,  plain 
clothes  by  these  ill-bred  little  school- 
girls. It  was  not,  perhaps,  so  much  their 
fault  as  that  of  their  foolish  mothers 
who  had  the  bad  taste  arid  lack  of  judg- 
ment to  dress  them  in  that  way,  and  I 
am  glad  to  say  that,  nowadays,  culti- 
vated and  refined  people,  no  matter  how 
wealthy  they  may  be,  dress  their  chil- 
dren only  neatly  and  plainly  for  school. 

"But  at  the  time  I  suffered  keenly.     I 
was   cut  to    the    heart   by  those  cruel, 


178  These  Are  My  Jewels 

thoughtless  children,  especially  as  I 
appreciated  the  goodness  and  unselfish- 
ness of  my  sister  in  clothing  and  edu- 
cating me,  and  in  giving  me  all  of  her 
time  and  attention.  And  now,  here  she 
is  again,  my  sister  Flo,  the  wife  of  a 
farmer.  He  is  not  very  rich,  but  he  is  a 
fine  man,  with  a  character  of  dignified 
honesty  and  high  principle — and  sister 
Flo  is  bringing  up  her  own  little  daugh- 
ter as  best  she  can,  and" — 

"O,  mamma,"  I  wailed,  "I  didn't 
speak  of  Cousin  Carrie's  clothes!" — for  I 
couldn't  endure  to  hear  any  more. 

"No,"  said  mamma,  "you  said  nothing 
in  words,  but  Carrie  felt  your  thought; 
you  were  ashamed  of  her,  and  thought 
flies  faster  than  words,  than  sound,  than 
sight.  Carrie  knew  your  feelings  toward 
her,  depend  upon  it,  although  she  has 
said  nothing  about  it  to  anyone.  She 
came  home  last  night,  went  to  her 
mother  and  asked  that  she  might  go  at 


Pride  Before  a  Fall  179 

once  to  bed,  as  she  was  tired.  I  under- 
stood the  situation  in  a  moment.  I  know, 
my  dear  little  girl,  how  fond  you  are  of 
appearances,  and  how  much  you  like  all 
beauty  and  grace,  especially  in  matters 
of  dress,  so  I  was  quite  prepared  for  your 
confession  last  night.  But,"  went  on  the 
best  mother  in  all  the  world,  "I  think, 
you  love  God.  You  love  justice.  You 
love  beauty  of  soul  as  well  as  beauty 

that  you  can  see  only  with  your  eyes, 

• 
and,  now  that  you  see  and  understand 

more  what  the  fault  is,  that  can  easily  be 
overcome.  The  passing  evil  is  gone  and, 
I  hope,  will  never  return.  All  you  need 
do  is  just  love  your  Cousin  Carrie.  There 
is  little  need  of  long  speeches  of  apol- 
ogy if  we  only  love  enough." 

And  that  was  all  mamma  said.  I  went 
to  find  Cousin  Carrie  and  before  an  hour 
was  gone  she  was  as  happy  as  I  was. 
We  became  the  very  best  friends,  and, 
as  I  told  Mary  Duncan  the  next  time  I 


180  These  Are  My  Jewels 

saw  her,  I  only  wish  Carrie  were  my 
sister  instead  of  my  first  cousin,  the 
child  of  mamma's  only  sister,  Mrs.  Flor- 
ence Digby. 

And  only  to  think,  that  Jim  had  acted 
so  much  better  than  I.  A  little  while 
after  we  had  come  home  I  went  out  on 
the  porch  for  a  moment  and  saw  Uncle 
Fred  and  Jim  coming  down  the  walk 
from  somewhere.  Just  as  they  got  into 
the  yard  Uncle  Fred  caught  hold  of  Jim 
and  tripped  him  on  the  grass.  As  Jim 
rolled  over  there  laughing  Uncle  Fred 
said: 

"Old  boy,  you  showed  up  well  in  let- 
ting those  Slann  boys  come  along  to- 
day. You're  getting  something  into  your 
tough  being,  after  all.  You're  all  right!" 
Uncle  Fred  often  talks  to  Jim  in  that 
way. 

Jim  sprang  up  and  wrestled  with  Uncle 
Fred  but  didn't  say  anything.  He  looked 
really  sober.  I  wonder  if  he  too,  has  any- 
thing on  his  mind?  "I  hope  not." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  TEST  OF  JIM. 

It  has  come!  Jim  did  have  something 
on  his  mind,  very  serious,  and  now  we 
know  all  about  it,  and  it  is  all  over  with, 
and  I  am  glad  of  it.  I  feel  sorry  for  the 
poor  boy.  He  didn't  like  to  talk  to  me 
but  I  got  his  promise  to  write  it  all  out 
and  here  is  what  he  says: 
JIM'S  STORY. 

"I  suppose  I've  got  to  write  of  every- 
thing just  as  it  happened.  Papa  says 
it's  not  much  use  to  think  much  about 
or  talk  over  mistakes  and  wrongs  done 
or  suffered,  that  to  'cease  from  evil  and 
do  good'  is  all  that  is  required  of  us.  I 
believe  that's  so  but  it's  not  so  easy  as 
it  sounds.  Once  in  a  while  something  is 
liable  to  happen  to  jar  you. 

"It  was  the  afternoon  of  the  Fourth  of 

181 


182  These  Ate  My  Jewels 

July  and  I  was  on  my  way  back  from 
the  Duncans,  where  we  had  been  having 
a  good  time  generally.  We  had  some 
fireworks  for  night,  when  we  boys  were 
to  let  them  off  together  in  front  of  our 
house.  I  had  in  my  coat  pockets  only  a 
bunch  of  common  fire- crackers  and  one 
cannon  cracker — a  whopper. 

"I  didn't  have  anything  on  hand  and  so 
sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the  sidewalk, 
for  a  while,  just  doing  nothing.  There 
was  nothing  alive  in  sight  but  Mulcahy's 
old  white  horse  dozing  in  the  shafts  of 
the  rickety  express  wagon.  He  stood  in 
the  shade  of  a  big  cottonwood  tree  in 
front  of  Pettibone's  store.  Mulcahy  was 
nowhere  around.  It  was  a  clear,  hot  day, 
and  though  old  Jerry  was  three  or  four 
squares  away  from  me  I  could  almost 
count  the  flies  on  his  dingy  hide.  Bildad 
came  along.  He's  learned  the  trick  of 
butting  boards  off  the  fence  back  of  the 
barn  and  is  in  the  street  half  of  the 


The  Test  of  Jim  183 

time  now.  Being  out  so  much  seemed 
to  get  up  his  sporting  spirit,  too,  for 
already  he'd  got  so  that  he  was  ready 
for  a  fight  at  the  drop  of  the  hat  and 
wasn't  afraid  of  anything  except  Mor- 
sham's  big  bulldog  down  town,  and  me, 
for  I'd  clubbed  him  so  much  whenever 
he  came  at  me  that  he'd  become  familiar 
with  my  power  of  arm.  Yet  I  have  never 
really  hurt  him.  We  played  together, 
that's  all. 

"Bildad  came  up  to  where  I  was  sit- 
ting and  looked  at  me  thoughtfully  for  a 
•while  and  then  put  his  head  down  and 
butted  at  me  gently  two  or  three  times, 
for  fun,  to  provoke  me  to  a  tussle. 
Finally,  I  caught  hold  of  his  horns  and, 
after  a  little  squabble,  held  him  still. 
Then  a  funny  idea  came  to  me. 

"I've  seen,  often,  how  a  dog  will  act 
with  a  bunch  of  fire-crackers  tied  to  his 
tail,  and  I  began  to  wonder — I  couldn't 
help  it — how  a  goat  would  act  if  treated 


184  These  Are  My  Jewels 

the  same  way?  I  couldn't  think  of  try- 
ing it,  for  I  knew  Bildad,  and  knew  that 
there  was  no  telling  what  he  would  do 
or  what  might  happen.  He  is  the  most 
mysterious  goat  I  ever  saw;  sometimes 
I  think  he  is  what  they  call  a  'degen- 
erate,' there's  such  a  fearsome,  and  yet 
reckless  look  in  his  eye. 

"But  the  idea  of  how  he  would  act  in 
front  of  fire-crackers  kept  fascinating 
me,  try  as  hard  as  I  could  to  think  of 
something  else.  It  was  certain  the  per- 
formance would  be  something  new  and 
great,  but  I  had  a  premonition.  I  ought 
to  have  heeded  it  more,  but  the  more  I 
thought  the  weaker  I  got,  and,  finally, 
I  took  out  the  crackers  and  laid  them 
down  beside  me. 

"I  got  foolish:  'Bildad,'  I  said,  'You 
need  something  to  stir  your  blood,  im- 
prove your  circulation  and  assist  diges- 
tion.' He  made  another  mock  lunge  at 
me  and  then  stood  still  thinking  what 


The  Test  of  Jim  185 

he  would  do  next.  'Bxcitement  is  what 
you  are  after,'  I  went  on,  'and  you  ought 
to  have  it.' 

"Still  I  resisted  but  I  know  now,  that 
the  moment  when  I  laid  out  the  crackers 
was  the  turning  point.  I  got  desperate 
and  suddenly  cast  reason  to  the  winds. 

"I  made  a  slip-noose  with  some  stout 
string  I  had,  fastened  all  the  crackers  to 
it  and  then  slipped  the  noose  over  Bil- 
dad's  tail  and  drew  it  tight,  which 
wasn't  an  easy  job,  for  he'd  begun  to  be 
a  little  restless  and  suspicious  and  there 
wasn't  much  of  a  tail  to  tie  to,  only  a 
stub,  such  as  goats  have.  Then,  after 
some  more  trouble,  I  lighted  the  crack- 
ers with  a  piece  of  punk.  The  end  of  the 
bunch  came  first  and  the  cannon-cracker 
quite  a  little  later,  so  that  it  would  go  off 
when  the  others  were  about  half  done. 
Then  I  waited. 

"Bildad  didn't  notice  anything  at  once, 
but,  when  the  first  gentle  fizz  began,  he 


186 

turned  his  head  and  looked  at  his  tail 
inquiringly.  In  a  moment  or  two,  he 
got  alarmed.  He  whirled  about  once  or 
twice  and  suddenly  the  sputtering  came 
and  the  sparks  showed.  He  gathered 
his  legs  together  and  went  straight  up 
in  the  air  as  if  he  was  shot  out  of  a 
mortar  and  no  sooner  struck  the  ground 
than  he  'went  up  again.  He  seemed  all 
made  of  hair  and  whalebone.  Then  the 
first  of  the  string  of  crackers  went  off. 

"I've  read  about  how  a  great  shell 
leaves  a  big  cannon  but  I  never  under- 
stood before.  I'd  fired  one,  only  this  was 
what  they  call  the  ricochetting  kind, 
striking  the  ground  here  and  there,  as  it 
went.  There  was  one  fierce  'B-1-a-a-t' 
and  Bildad  just  hurled  into  space, 
headed  down  Main  street  for  South 
America,  blazing  behind  and  making 
twenty  feet  at  a  jump.  It  wasn't  run- 
ning; it  was  just  a  'yip*  fiery  passage 
away,  the  goat  rising  wavingly  up  and 


The  Test  of  Jim  187 

down  and  crackling  as  he  went,  his  feet 
only  clipping  the  ground  at  the  end  of 
jumps.  People  came  running  out,  but 
Bildad  was  half  a  block  away  before 
they  could  get  into  the  street.  Faster 
and  faster  he  went  down  the  slope  until, 
as  he  struck  ground  at  the  end  of  the 
highest  and  longest  jump  yet,  he  landed 
just  under  old  Jerry,  and,  at  that  very 
moment,  the  cannon  cracker  exploded 
and  split  open  the  atmosphere. 

It  was  awful!  Old  Jerry  rose  up  in 
the  air,  with  his  back  curved,  as  Bildad 
passed  through  and  on,  fell  flat  on  his 
side  as  he  came  down,  rolled  to  his  old 
feet  again  in  a  second,  and  was  off  on  a 
dead  run.  He  turned  the  first  corner, 
with  the  wagon  swinging  and  slatting 
and  bounding  behind  him,  and  was  out 
of  sight  in  a  minute. 

"I  was  on  a  dead  run  too,  and  Bildad 
was  still  in  sight.  No  turning  for  him! 
He  wanted  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Mar- 


188  These  Are  My  Jewels 

sham's  bulldog  saw  him  coming  and 
darted  out.  They  met  at  what  is  called 
a  right  angle,  with  the  dog  just  a  shade 
ahead.  That  dog,  oh,  where  was  he? 
He  rose  up  and  came  down  again  and 
lay  flopping  around  and  howling,  with 
two  ribs  broken;  and  Bildad  had  passed 
on. 

"I  raced  away  after  the  fiery  streak, 
though  my  wind  "was  giving  out,  clear 
through  town  and  up  the  hill,  with 
other  boys  chasing  after  me,  and  finally 
caught  up  with  Bildad  standing  still  in 
the  middle  of  the  road.  The  fire-crackers 
were  gone  and  he  seemed  to  be  thinking 
hard.  He  turned  his  head  and  gave  one 
look  at  me  and  then  started  down  the 
crossroad.  He  didn't  want  my  society. 
I  saw  him  turn  again  to  the  left  and 
knew  he  was  going  home.  He'd  had  his 
Fourth. 

"I  came  back  on  Main  street  feeling  a 
little  shaky  —  but  it  had  been  great. 


The  Test  of  Jim  189 

When  I  got  to  Charlotte  street,  I  looked 
up  it,  to  see  if  there  were  any  signs  of 
old  Jerry,  but  there  wasn't  a  trace  of 
him.  Then  I  noticed  a  lot  of  people 
gathered  in  front  of  Poole's  barber  shop. 
I  went  down  there  and  the  nearer  I  came 
to  the  place  the  lower  my  heart  sank.  I 
felt  something  coming.  I  pushed  into 
the  crowd  and  there  I  saw  my  finish! 

"Jerry  might  be  the  oldest  horse  in 
town,  but  he'd  made  a  sensation  on  a 
grand  scale.  He  had  tried  to  dodge  a 
tree  as  he  came  on  a  slithering,  and  had 
made  too  sudden  a  twist  and  gone,  ker- 
smash,  through  Poole's  window  and  into 
the  shop.  There  was  a  yell  and  a  panic 
over  what  they  thought  was  an  ex- 
plosion, but  now  the  barber,  and  one 
customer  with  lather  on  his  face  yet, 
and  some  other  men,  were  heaving  and 
sweating  and  talking  loud  and  trying  to 
get  the  old  horse  out.  The  wagon  was 
turned  upside  down  in  the  street.  There 
was  a  big  excitement. 


190  These  Are  My  Jewels 

'"Where  is  Mulcahy?'  everybody  was 
asking  and  just  then  Mulcahy  came 
rushing  'round  the  corner  to  learn  how 
old  Jerry  had  run  away  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life. 

"'What  th'  blazes  iver  came  over  th' 
baste?'  asked  the  poor  expressman,  and 
everybody  began  telling  him  about  it 
and  saying  how  dangerous  it  was  to 
leave  his  horse  standing  untied  on  the 
street,  especially  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 

"By  this  time,  you  bet,  I'd  stopped 
laughing,  and  I  sort  of  sneaked  for 
home.  Bildad  was  there  before  me  look- 
ing a  little  more  battered  than  usual, 
but  he  was  all  right.  I  wasn't. 

"We  had  fireworks,  after  dinner,  and 
Sandy  and  I  had  lots  of  the  fun  manag- 
ing them,  with  Uncle  Fred's  help.  That 
kept  my  mind  busy  for  some  time.  I 
was  longer  going  to  sleep  than  usual, 
though,  that  night. 

"I   laughed   every  time   I  thought  of 


The  Test  of  Jim  191 

Bildad's  fiery  career,  but  when  I  remem- 
bered poor  old  Jerry  and  poor  old  Mul- 
cahy  the  thing  didn't  seem  quite  so 
funny. 

"But  three  or  four  days  after  when  I 
heard  that  the  barber  had  sued  Mulcahy 
for  eleven  dollars  damages  on  account 
of  the  broken  window,  then  was  when  I 
went  under. 

"No  one  down  town  knew  I  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  disaster.  Even 
Bildad's  part  in  the  affair  had  not  been 
taken  up.  People  down  on  Charlotte 
street  thought  Bildad  was  only  running 
after  old  Jerry  if  they  noticed  him  at  all. 

"I  knew  I  owed  that  eleven  dollars. 
No  one  else  thought  of  me  as  to  blame. 

"I  thought  it  over  and  over.  I  had 
saved  a  little  more  than  seven  dollars, 
but  it  was  in  the  savings  bank,  and  the 
book  was  locked  up  in  papa's  safe  in  his 
office. 

"John  Peterson  told  me  that  Mtilcahy 


192  These  Are  My  Jewels 

said  he  could  never  pay  eleven  dollars. 
He  didn't  have  that  much  and  couldn't 
borrow  it,  and  so,  John  said,  he  was  in  a 
fix.  I  heard  too,  that  Mulcahy  was  try- 
ing to  sell  old  Jerry,  but  no  one  wanted 
him,  and,  even  if  anyone  did  buy  the 
horse,  I  thought,  what  would  the  ex- 
pressman do  for  a  living?  He  has  a  big 
family  of  youngsters,  too.  They  live 
down  in  what  we  call  'The  Patch,'  a 
part  of  town  where  the  poorest  people 
have  their  homes. 

"But  I  fell  down!  There  is  no  use 
talking  about  it;  I  fell  down,  or  at  least' 
I  came  so  near  it  that  I'm  ashamed  to 
think  about  it  even  now.  I  wanted  that 
seven  dollars  I  had  saved  up  for  a  special 
purpose,  and,  besides,  there  was  the  other 
four  to  be  raised.  How  could  I  do  that? 
I  flunked.  Nobody  thought  of  me  in  con- 
nection with  the  lawsuit.  What  had  I  to 
do  with  Poole  or  with  Mulcahy  and  his 
old  horse,  anywa}-?  But  that  sort  of  fig- 


The  Test  of  Jim  193 

uring  didn't  work.  Something  inside  of 
me  kept  pulling  and,  at  last,  I  couldn't 
stand  it.  I'd  held  on  for  several  days,  but 
the  day  before  Mulcahy's  case  came  off 
before  Justice  Partridge,  I  caved  in. 

"I  went  to  papa  and  let  out  the  whole 
thing.  The  next  morning,  early,  he  gave 
me  my  bank-book  so  I  could  draw  out 
my  seven  dollars,  and  he  planked  down 
four  more  for  the  balance,  and  you'd 
better  believe  I  hustled  down  to  Mul- 
cahy's stand  on  Main  street. 

"He  wasn't  there,  so  I  hiked  over  to 
the  Patch  and  found  him  in  his  Sunday 
clothes,  getting  ready  to  go  to  the  Jus- 
tice's court. 

"His  wife  was  crying  and  three  or 
four  kids  were  bawling  too,  from  sym- 
pathy, I  suppose.  They  were  all  out  in 
their  front  yard  and  their  neighbors 
were  hanging  over  the  fence  listening 
to  the  row,  for  poor  Mulcahy's  wife  was 
giving  it  to  him  for  not  tying  Jerry  when 
he  left  him  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 


194  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"I  called  Mulcahy  into  the  tumble-down 
shed  at  the  side  of  the  house  and  it 
didn't  take  me  long  to  get  his  attention 
when  I  showed  him  the  eleven  dollars. 
Then  I  told  him  about  Bildad  and  how 
he  had  scared  Jerry — and  no  wonder — 
and  all  the  rest. 

"Mulcahy  was  overcome  with  joy,  first, 
and  then  he  didn't  know  what  was  the 
next  step. 

"'What'll  I  do  at  all?'  he  asked,  shov- 
ing his  best  hat  way  back  on  his  head. 
'Poole  has  a  lawyer,  and  he's  bound  to 
go  agin  me — ' 

"I  told  him,  as  papa  had  said,  to  go 
straight  to  Poole,  the  barber,  pay  the 
money,  and  leave  Poole  and  his  lawyer 
to  get  out  of  the  suit. 

"As  I  started  to  leave,  Mrs.  Mulcahy 
stopped  us,  and  Mulcahy  explained  the 
matter  to  her  in  a  few  words.  I  wish  he 
hadn't,  for  quick  as  a  flash,  Mrs.  Mul- 
cahy turned  upon  me  and  began  to  give 


The  Test  of  Jim  195 

me  what  she  had  stored  up  for  her  hus- 
band. It  was  pretty  hot  stuff. 

"  'Lave  the  kid  alone,  can't  ye,'  said 
Mulcahy;  'save  it  f'r  th'  goat.' 

"As  we  walked  away  Mulcahy  slapped 
me  on  the  shoulder  and  said,  'Ye're  a 
foine  b'ye,'  and  then  held  his  head  down 
thinking  a  minute  and  added,  '  'Tis  a 
foine  goat  too,  Oi  dunno.' 

"And  no  more  secrets  in  mine,  thank 
you!  I've  had  enough  to  last  a  lifetime. 

"Papa  went  over  the  whole  ground 
with  me,  later,  all  about  lying  and  de- 
ceiving and  concealing  the  truth  when 
it  ought  to  be  known.  And  he  traced 
the  whole  thing  back  to  the  old  enemy, 
fear.  I  was  ashamed  enough,  for  I  had 
been  bragging  to  myself  that  I  had 
downed  fear,  and  wasn't  afraid  of  any- 
thing. But  the  thing's  got  a  lot  of 
shapes.  Seems  as  if  you  no  more  than 
knock  one  of  its  heads  off  than  up  pops 
another. 


196  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"I  wasn't  afraid  of  Mulcahy,  nor  of 
papa,  even,  but  I  was  afraid  of  being 
found  out  in  my  fooling  with  Bildad  and 
all  that  came  after.  It  meant  no  end  of 
talk,  and  then  the  boys  were  sure  to  guy 
me. 

"But  it's  all  over  now,  and  I  shall  think 
twice,  I  guess,  before  I  tackle  anything 
that  may  start  an  earthquake,  and  as  for 
having  something  to  keep  dark  lying  on 
my  conscience  like  a  heavy  dumpling  on 
my  stomach,  No,  no,  thank  you,  not  for 
me.  JAMES  LAWSON." 

And  that  is  the  story  of  what  Jim  calls 
his  biggest  fall-down.  He  says  he  thinks 
it  did  him  good  to  write  it  out,  kind  o' 
cleared  his  system,  but  he  doesn't  make 
any  other  remarks.  After  all,  he  was 
sorely  tempted,  being  a  boy,  but  he 
hadn't  been  as  small  and  mean  as  I  had 
been  with  Carrie. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A   BIT   OF   ROMANCE. 

I  wish  I  had  some  extra  gift  at  writing 
to  tell  the  lovely  thing  that  happened.  I 
had  a  hand  in  it,  too,  and  as  it  is  the  first 
bit  of  romantic  affair  that  I  have  ever 
seen  of  course  I  am  quite  excited. 

Jim  says  he  wonders  how  I  ever  could 
speak  to  Uncle  Fred  of  Miss  Nesbit  after 
the  way  our  committee  "flattened  out," 
but  it  was  my  not  being  afraid  to  speak 
that  did  it.  And  I  was  led  into  it  by 
Uncle  Fred  himself,  this  time. 

But  I  must  begin  at  the  beginning.  It 
was  at  the  breakfast  table  at  our  house 
that  my  story  started. 

"Colonel  Nesbit  has  been  appointed 
Postmaster,"  said  papa,  looking  up  at 
mamma  from  over  his  morning  paper. 
He  looked  awfully  glad,  and  mamma 
was  delighted  at  the  news. 

197 


198  These  Are  My  Jewels 

"It  is  Mr.  Wentworth's  work,  I  am 
sure,"  said  mamma.  "I  must  call  and 
congratulate  Louise." 

Uncle  Fred  looked  queer.  I  noticed 
him  because  he  shoved  back  his  chair 
suddenly,  and  then,  after  a  moment  or 
two,  asked  to  be  excused,  and  left  the 
room. 

Mamma  looked  thoughtfully  after  him, 
but  she  soon  returned  to  the  subject  of 
Colonel  Nesbit's  appointment.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  Colonel  has  been  rather 
poor  ever  since  his  block  of  stores 
down  town  was  burned,  and  somehow, 
he  couldn't  get  started  in  business 
again,  so  papa  said,  although  the  Colo- 
nel looks  young  for  his  age,  and  seems 
able  to  go  on  as  well  as  anyone.  From 
their  talk  now  I  could  see  that  it  -was 
feared  that  the  Colonel  had  lost  heart,  a 
little,  but  that  this  appointment  would 
do  him  good  in  every  way. 

"I'm  glad  of  it  all,"  said  mamma.  "Mrs. 


A  Bit  of  Romance  199 

Wentworth  was  an  old  school  friend  of 
Louise,  and  when  Mr.  Wentworth  was 
nominated  for  Congress  a  year  ago  he 
promised  Louise,  if  he  were  elected,  to 
try  to  get  her  father  to  be  appointed 
Postmaster  here." 

"No  better  man  could  be  found,  to  be 
sure,"  said  papa,  "and  as  a  nomination 
by  Mr.  Wentworth's  party  means  elec- 
tion in  this  district,  and  the  Postmaster 
here  is  practically  chosen  by  the  Con- 
gressman, it  has  been  only  a  question  of 
time  when  the  promised  appointment 
should  be  made.  Bveryone  in  Merrivale 
will  rejoice  over  it." 

And  now  comes  the  best  of  my  story. 

That  afternoon  Uncle  Fred  and  I 
went  for  a  long  walk.  It  was  getting 
toward  evening  when,  on  our  way  home, 
we  sat  down  to  rest  under  the  big  oak  in 
the  edge  of  the  woods,  and  Uncle  Fred 
spoke,  for  the  first  time,  of  the  coming 
end  of  his  visit  to  us.  In  two  weeks  he 


200  These  Are  My  Jewels 

must  go,  he   said,  and   it  was   hard  to 
think  of  being  away  from  us. 

He  leaned  back  against  the  tree,  and 
as  he  spoke  of  leaving  Merrivale  he 
looked  very  sad,  and  he  saw  me  looking 
sorry,  too,  I  suppose,  for  he  took  my  two 
hands  in  his  and  said, 

"Little  girl,  you  don't  know  how  heavy 
my  heart  is,  for  we've  had  good  times 
together,  haven't  we?  and  I'm  leaving  all 
I  love  best  in  Merrivale. 

At  first  I  thought  he  meant  mamma, 
Jim  and  the  rest  of  us,  but  somehow 
suddenly  it  came  to  me  that  he  was 
thinking  of  Miss  Louise  Nesbit.  I  was 
almost  afraid  to  speak  but  the  more  I 
thought  the  more  sorry  I  got  and  I  be- 
came reckless,  I  guess.  I  broke  out: 

"Well,  Uncle  Fred"— then  I  almost 
broke  down — "why  do  you  leave  her? — I 
mean  Miss  Louise — you  know — " 

"Oh,"  he  answered,  "she  doesn't  care 
for  me.  Her  heart  belongs  to  someone 
else." 


A  Bit  of  Romance  201 

"Who  can  it  be?"  I  asked,  surprised. 
"What  makes  you  think  that?" 

"I  will  tell  you  all  about  it,  Kit,"  he 
said,  sitting  up  straight  and  speaking 
fast.  "It's  a  strange  thing  to  talk  to  a 
little  girl  about,  but  I  don't  care.  You're 
my  little  playmate.  A  year  ago,  you  see, 
I  was  a  happy  man.  I  thought  I  had 
found  some  one  who  would  be  a  part  of 
me  all  my  life,  and  though  I  had  not  yet 
spoken  all  I  intended,  I  did  not  have 
much  fear  of  losing  Miss  Nesbit.  I  was 
fool  enough  to  think  that  she  cared  for 
me.  A  few  days  before  I  was  to  leave 
Merrivale  I  walked  across  the  fields  to 
Colonel  Nesbit's,  determined  to  ask 
Louise  to  be  my  wife,  and  to  get  the 
Colonel's  consent,  too.  I  was  very  con- 
fident and  hopeful." 

Uncle  Fred  was  still  so  long  that  I  was 
afraid  he  wasn't  going  on,  and  at  last  I 
ventured  to  say,  "And  then?" 

"And    then,"    he    continued,    turning 


202  These  Are  My  Jewels 

away  his  face — "Then  the  blow  came. 
As  I  came  out  through  the  wood  I  saw 
two  riders  going  down  the  road,  and  two 
others  were  just  passing.  The  ones  near 
me  were  Miss  Nesbit  and  a  gentleman — 
a  good  looking,  clean-cut  man,  a  little 
older  than  myself,  perhaps.  The  two 
were  earnestly  talking  and  took  no  note 
of  me.  I  saw  Miss  Nesbit  put  out  her 
hand,  across  from  her  horse,  the  man 
took  it,  and  as  her  face  turned  toward 
him  it  seemed  full  of  a  great  joy. 

"I  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  this 
little  scene,  and  I  stood  leaning  on  the 
fence,  thinking  it  over,  not  very  seri- 
ously, though,  when  back  from  the  way 
she  had  gone  came  Miss  Nesbit,  with 
her  father.  They  were  cantering  easily 
along,  their  horses  neck  and  neck. 

"When  she  saw  me  Miss  Nesbit 
stopped.  'Here  is  Mr.  Rathburne,  father/ 
she  said.  'Please  lead  my  horse  and  I 
will  "walk.  You  were  coming  to  see  us, 


A  Bit  of  Romance  203 

were  you  not?'  she  said,  turning  to  me. 

"Colonel  Nesbit  rode  away,  leading  his 
daughter's  horse  by  the  rein  and  we  were 
left  alone.  As  I  looked  at  her  the  words 
of  love  died  on  my  lips.  My  confidence 
was  gone.  She  was  glowing  with  joy 
and  before  I  could  say  anything  she 
spoke. 

"'I  have  my  heart's  desire,'  she  cried, 
'Congratulate  me!'  She  held  out  her 
hand. 

"I  was  bewildered.  I  muttered  some- 
thing about  having  seen  her  pass  by 
and  then  she  said,  'Did  you  see  Mr. 
Wentworth?  I  have  his  promise!' 

"I  was  dumfounded.  I  never  had  heard 
of  any  Mr.  Wentworth,  but  there  was  no 
mistaking  her  tone.  Mr.  Wentworth  was 
the  world  to  her." 

"Uncle  Fred!  Uncle  Fred!"  I  fairly 
screamed  —  "Don't  you  know  who  Mr. 
Wentworth  is?  and  don't  you — oh  you 


204  These  Are  My  Jewels 

stupid,  queer,  jealous,  funny  Uncle 
Fred!"  and  I  broke  down,  and  cried. 

"Why  child,  what  do  you  mean?  Don't 
cry,  dearie.  I  shouldn't  bother  a  little 
girl  with  my  troubles — but  don't  cry, 
and  I'll  promise  not  to!" 

He  was  laughing  now,  but  so  was  I. 
And  then  I  just  told  him  the  foolish 
mistake  he  had  made,  for  I  knew,  now, 
•why  he  and  Miss  Louise  had  been  so 
stiff  and  cold  to  each  other  ever  since 
that  day  last  summer. 

"You  goose  of  an  Uncle  Fred,"  I  said, 
"Mr.  Blbert  Wentworth  is  our  member 
of  Congress.  That  day  last  summer  he 
and  his  wife  had  been  over  to  see  Colo- 
nel Nesbit.  Mr.  Wentworth  had  been 
nominated  for  Congress,  and  had  just 
promised  Miss  Louise  to  get  the  Colo- 
nel appointed  Postmaster  as  soon  as  he 
could.  His  wife  is  Miss  Louise's  best 
friend:  they  w*ere  at  school  together — 
and — oh,  you  foolish  uncle!" 


A  Bit  of  Romance  205 

As  little  Kansas  Joe  says,  "You  ought 
to  saw  Uncle  Fred!" 

He  grew  as  pale  as  a  grave-stone,  and 
was  about  as  quiet  as  one,  for  a  few 
minutes.  When  he  spoke  his  voice  was 
funny. 

"Let's  go  and  see  your  mamma,"  he 
said.  "I  believe  you  are  right,  and  that 
I  have  been  making  a  good  deal  of  a 
spectacle  of  myself!  Miss  Nesbit  has 
met  me  very  coldly,  bqt  perhaps  that 
was  because  of  my  changed  manner  to 
her.  I  bade  her  a  short  good-bye  that 
day,  and  have  spoken  to  her  very  for- 
mally, since." 

We  hurried  home,  and  found  mamma, 
and  she  told  Uncle  Fred  all  over  again 
the  story  of  Mr.  Wentworth  and  his 
friendly  help  to  his  wife's  school-mate. 

"To  think  that  you  had  never  heard  of 
Mr.  or  Mrs.  Wentworth!"  she  said.  "We 
all  forgot  that,  and  of  course  Louise  for- 
got that  you  were  really  a  stranger  here, 


206  These  Are  My  Jewels 

for  you  were  with  us  so  much.  Why, 
we  have  talked  it  all  over,  the  prospects 
of  Colonel  Nesbit,  and  Mr.  Wentworth's 
hope  of  assisting  him,  and  I  don't  see 
how  you  escaped  hearing  it.  What  must 
Louise  have  thought  of  you?" 

"I'm  going  to  see!"  said  Uncle  Fred; 
and  he  took  up  his  hat  and  went  striding 
away  'cross  lots  to  Colonel  Nesbit's. 

And  it  came  out  all  right.  Louise  has 
forgiven  Uncle  Fred,  I'm  certain,  from 
the  way  they  both  act,  and  I  am  sure 
they  are  the  happiest  couple,  as  well  as 
the  handsomest,  that  ever  existed. 

When  I  told  Jim  he  only  said,  quite 
pompously,  "The  committee  is  dis- 
charged," and  then  he  turned  a  hand- 
spring. 

It  is  too  bad  we  can't  tell  the  Lanes 
and  Duncans,  but  mamma  says  that  it  is 
perhaps  in  better  taste  to  say  nothing 
about  Uncle  Fred's  love  story;  so  Jim 
and  I  know  a  regular  grown-up  secret, 


A  Bit  of  Romance  207 

and  that  helps  to  pay  for  not  telling  the 
others  of  our  age.  You  see  that  isn't  be- 
ing deceitful,  or  even  secretive.  It's  only 
something  quite  in  the  family. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PAIN. 

One  night  last  week  I  heard  noises  in 
Jim's  room,  which  is  next  to  mine.  I 
could  hear  him  tossing  about  and  mut- 
tering but  I  thought  that  maybe  he  was 
only  talking  in  his  sleep,  as  he  does 
sometimes,  and  so  closed  my  own  eyes 
again  and  heard  nothing  more  until  I 
awakened  in  the  morning.  Then  there 
was  no  mistaking  that  Jim  was  in 
trouble  of  some  kind.  I  heard  him 
walking  about,  though  it  was  early,  and 
I  heard  him  say  "Golly"  in  a  tone  of 
voice  which  didn't  seem  comfortable.  I 
dressed  myself  as  quickly  as  I  could  and 
knocked  at  his  door. 

He  called  to  me  to  come  in  and  as  I 
looked  at  him  I  cried  out  in  spite  of 
myself.  One  part  of  his  face,  low  down, 

208 


Pain  209 

was  swelled  out  in  a  big  lump,  his  eyes 
were  red  and  he  was  walking  up  and 
down  the  room  with  one  hand  against 
the  swelled  place  and  looking  awfully 
dismal. 

"What  in  the  world  is  the  matter, 
Jim?"  I  cried  out. 

The  poor  boy  tried  to  laugh  and  be 
brave,  but  couldn't  do  it  very  well. 

"I  don't  know,  Kit.  I've  got  the  'big 
head'  I  guess,  but  I  don't  feel  proud, 
even  if  I  am  kind  o'  puffed  up.  I  haven't 
been  to  sleep  since  eleven  o'clock  and  it 
keeps  getting  worse  all  the  time.  Golly!" 
and  he  began  walking  up  and  down 
again. 

I  was  awfully  sorry  for  him.  He  had 
complained  the  day  before  that  one  of 
his  teeth  hurt  him  and  there  was  some 
swelling,  but  not  much,  and  it  seemed 
hardly  possible  that  such  a  change  could 
have  come  so  soon.  We  hurried  down- 
stairs and  Jim  went  outdoors  and  walked 


210  These  Are  My  Jewels 

about  until  breakfast  time.  When  he 
came  into  the  dining-room  he  was  a  sad 
looking  object. 

Papa  and  mamma  looked  at  Jim's  face 
and  asked  him  all  about  it  and  then  papa 
told  him  that  he  must  go  to  the  dentist 
as  soon  as  breakfast  was  over,  Uncle 
Fred  promising  to  go  along,  to  "see  him 
through"  he  said.  Poor  Jim  couldn't 
eat  and  he  couldn't  talk  much,  either, 
though  he  tried  to,  once  in  a  while. 

"Do  you  think  the  New  Thought  can 
help  toothache?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,  certainly,"  said  papa.  "You  can 
help  the  toothache  by  seeing  yourself  as 
3Tou  really  are,  and  thinking  of  it.  The 
body  which  feels  the  pain  is  but  the 
servant  of  the  mind  and  reflects  the 
mind  in  everything. 

"But  I  didn't  think  'toothache'  before 
it  began,"  said  Jim. 

"No,  but  it  might  come  from  some 
thought,  just  the  same.  The  condition 


Pain  211 

of  the  blood  or  of  the  whole  body  might 
have  been  affected  by  some  action  of 
your  mind.  Have  you  never  known  peo- 
ple to  be  sick  after  a  sudden  shock? 
Have  you  never  heard  or  read  of  people 
who  have  died  suddenly  of  what,  for 
convenience,  is  called  heart  disease, 
after  they  have  given  way  to  some  vio- 
lent exhibition  of  passion?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Well  that  •was  the  effect  of  the  condi- 
tion of  mind  upon  the  body.  The  condi- 
tion of  your  body  or  part  of  it  this  morn- 
ing may  be  the  reflection  of  something 
you  or  some  one  before  you  thought: 
but  we  will  deal  with  it  as  it  is  to  your 
sense  of  it  just  now: — Every  nerve  cell 
in  the  body  is  a  little  brain,  or  a  tele- 
phone, and  it  will  receive  and  retain  the 
mental  impression  given  it.  The  first 
thing  to  do  is  to  send  the  tooth  a  mes- 
sage and  a  healing  one  at  that;  the  next 
thing  will  be  a  visit  to  the  dentist,  for 


212  These  Are  My  Jewels 

we  are  not  yet  where  we  can  do  without 
help  from  the  people  who  are  fitted  to 
put  in  good  order  different  parts  of  the 
instrument  we  are  working  with;  though 
it  should  be  possible  to  do  it  all  by  our 
own  thinking.  We  have  been  for  gener- 
ations educated  to  think  certain  condi- 
tions bound  to  come  upon  us,  and  we 
will  have  to  do  a  power  of  un-thiriking 
to  keep  things  straight.  Meanwhile,  if 
a  tooth  needs  a  dentist's  attention  or  a 
broken  bone  needs  setting,  good  sense 
will  take  us  to  the  dentist  or  the  sur- 
geon. This  we  can  do  to  keep  the 
sensation  of  pain  out  of  the  part,  and 
we  make  the  healing  speedy,  by  strong 
affirmations,  and  a  positive  refusal  to 
recognize  a  condition  not  in  accordance 
with  the  God-like  nature  of  our  real, 
true  being." 

"Wouldn't  it  be  fine  if  we  didn't  have 
any  nerves  at  all?"  said  Jim.    "Then  we 


Pain  213 

wouldn't  feel  any  pain  in  our  bodies  and 
everything  would  be  all  right." 

Papa  looked  amused:  "I'm  afraid  every- 
thing would  be  all  wrong,  my  boy.  What 
would  you  say  if  I  told  you  that  without 
nerves  and  •what  we  call  pain  we  couldn't 
be  safe  a  minute,  that  bodily  pain  is  for 
the  protection  of  our  bodies,  and  so,  for 
our  good?" 

"I  don't  see  how  pain  is  for  our  good, 
unless  maybe,  that  it  teaches  a  fellow 
how  to  grin  and  bear  things!" 

"No,  it  isn't  for  that.  I'll  make  it  plain 
to  you  in  a  physical  way.  A  nerve,  you 
may  bear  in  mind,  is  one  of  a  host  of 
little  white  threads,  reaching  from  the 
brain  to  all  parts  of  the  body.  Then 
think  of  each  one  of  these  threads  as  a 
telegraph  wire.  When  anything  is  -wrong 
anywhere  in  the  body  the  nerve  reach- 
ing to  the  part  that  is  in  trouble  carries 
a  message  to  the  brain  at  once  and  then 
from  the  message  we  call  pain,  we  know 


214  These  Are  My  Jewels 

•what  we  have  got  to  attend  to  at  once." 

"But  supposing  the  brain  didn't  get 
any  such  telegraph  message;  what 
would  happen  then?" 

"Well,  suppose  you  were  to  put 
your  hand,  accidentally,  into  a  kettle  of 
boiling  hot  water.  Of  course,  since  your 
nerves  were  not  sending  word  of  what 
was  going  on,  you  might  let  your  hand 
stay  there.  What  would  happen  then?" 

"I  suppose  my  hand  would  be  boiled 
away." 

"Exactly.  And  if  you  hadn't  got  a 
message  over  the  nerve  telling  of  the 
condition  of  your  face  this  morning 
something  serious  would  have  occurred. 
So  you  see  how  pain  is  for  our  good.  Of 
course  the  nerves  carry  welcome  mes- 
sages, too.  They  bring  word  to  the 
brain  when  something  tastes  good  in 
the  mouth,  when  the  nostrils  have  in- 
haled a  fragrance,  -when  the  eye  has 
looked  upon  a  pleasant  sight,  or  has 


Pain  215 

read  good  news,  or  when  the  ear  has 
received  a  welcome  message,  or  heard  a 
pleasant  sound.  The  nerves  carry  mes- 
sages the  other  way,  too;  messages  from 
the  brain  telling  any  part  of  the  body 
what  to  do.  You  see  that  without  nerves 
we  would  not  suffer,  but  would  be  para- 
lyzed and  as  if  dead." 

"I  guess  I'll  get  along  with  nerves, 
after  all,"  was  Jim's  remark.  "Anyway, 
I'll  send  as  strong  a  thought  as  I  can  to 
that  tooth,  now,  and  try  to  hang  on  to  it 
until  the  dentist  gets  through  with  me. 
I  expect  it  will  be  pretty  tough.  Come 
along,  Uncle  Fred,"  and  off  they  went. 

They  were  away  hardly  a  half  an  hour 
and  when  they  came  back  Jim  was  smil- 
ing. "He  stood  it  well,"  Uncle  Fred  told 
us,  "while  the  dentist  lanced  his  swollen 
jaw  and  cleaned  and  then  filled  the  tooth 
with  something  healing."  It  didn't  hurt 
half  as  much  as  he  expected,  Jim  said, 


216  These  Are  My  Jewels 

and  now  he  proposed  to  try  to  think  it 
was  all  over  with. 

"That's  the  proper  way  to  treat  it," 
papa  answered;  "Just  let  it  go.  What 
we  call  complete  relaxation  is  the  wisest 
thing.  Resolve  that  you  won't  keep 
'strung  up*  over  it  and  pretty  soon 
you'll  find  you've  nothing  to  be  'strung 
up'  about." 

"I  think  that  sometimes  the  dumb 
animals,  especially  the  most  splendid  of 
them  all,  the  dogs,  set  us  a  fine  example 
in  the  treatment  of  pain.  You  know  I 
was  born  in  a  part  of  the  country  where 
it  was  new,  and  extremely  wild.  In  the 
woods  were  plenty  of  porcupines,  harm- 
less little  animals,  but  unpleasant  cus- 
tomers for  dogs  to  assail.  Let  a  dog  but 
sieze  one  of  them  and  the  easily  loos- 
ened barbed  quills  would  come  off  in  his 
mouth  and  begin  to  work  their  way  into 
the  flesh.  There  was  but  one  way  to 
treat  a  dog  thus  unfortunate,  and  that 


Pain  217 

was  to  pull  the  quills  out  as  quickly  as 
possible. 

"We  had  a  dog  named  Pero,  a  great 
hunter  on  his  own  account,  and  very- 
intelligent,  but  not  quite  intelligent 
enough,  when  excited,  to  let  hedgehogs 
alone,  though  he  had  been  through  many 
painful  experiences  and  suffered  much 
in  having  the  quills  extracted.  He  would 
still,  on  his  hunting  excursions,  attack 
hedgehogs,  but,  the  moment  he  felt  the 
painful  and  dangerous  things  in  his 
mouth,  he  would  start  on  a  run  for  home 
and  hunt  up  father. 

"Then  father,  with  the  bullet-moulds 
for  pincers,  would  take  Pero's  head  be- 
tween his  knees  and  pull  out  the  quills, 
one  by  one,  and  the  brave  dog  would 
never  whimper  though  the  pain  must 
have  been  very  great  from  having  the 
flesh  torn  in  such  a  sensitive  place.  As 
soon  as  the  operation  was  over,  Pero, 
evidently  feeling  ill,  would  start  for  the 


218  These  Are  My  Jewels 

barn  and  there  would  lie  down,  not  mov- 
ing for  hours,  just  "relaxing,"  it  seemed, 
until,  at  last,  he  would  suddenly  jump 
up  as  well  as  ever.  Could  he  have  pos- 
sibly acted  with  greater  courage  and 
wisdom?" 

"My  own  ache  is  about  gone,  now," 
Jim  broke  in,  "and  since  it's  over  with, 
I'm  rather  glad  I  had  it.  It  makes  me 
enjoy  not  having  an  ache,  and  I  didn't 
do  that  before." 

"Pain  or  trial  of  any  sort,  whether  it  be 
of  the  body  or  the  mind,  certainly  does 
make  us  appreciate  the  host  of  blessings 
we  have,"  papa  answered.  "The  one  who 
has  lost  his  sight  and  had  it  restored,  or 
the  one  who  has  emerged  from  a  long 
captivity  in  prison,  knows  better  than 
another  the  glory  and  great  gift  of  the 
sun  and  sky  and  all  that  is  fair  to  us  in 
nature,  and  so  suffering  induces  grati- 
tude for  whatever  blessings  we  may 
possess.  And  in  gratitude  is  much 


Pain  219 

happiness.  The  grateful  are  rarely  the 
miserable,  though  what  they  are  grateful 
for  may  seem  to  others  insignificant." 

Here  Uncle  Fred  spoke,  laughing:  "I 
know  a  case,  Robert,  which  is  a  remark- 
able illustration  of  the  truth  of  what  }TOU 
are  saying.  It  is  a  droll  one,  though  it 
is  pitiful  in  a  way.  I'm  acquainted  with 
an  old  veteran  in  the  Soldiers'  Home.  I 
called  upon  him  a  few  months  ago,  to 
see  how  he  was  getting  on.  I  found 
him,  among  a  group  of  comrades,  by 
all  odds  the  most  twisted,  crippled,  old- 
looking  and  worst  in  appearance  of  the 
lot.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  certainly 
as  cheerful  and  contented  as  any  man 
among  them.  It  was  something  won- 
derful! I  asked  him  if  he  was  satisfied 
with  things? 

"'Satisfied?'  Of  course  I  am;'  mum- 
bled the  old  fellow  heartily.  'I'm  a  little 
twisted  up,  and  a  little  clumsy,  with  my 
one  leg,  but  that's  nothing.  This  is  a 


220  These  Are  My  Jewels 

good  place  and  these  are  good  fellows. 
Fact  is/  he  went  on  innocently,  'I  always 
was  the  luckiest  man  alive!  Why,  my 
teeth  are  all  out  except  two  old  snags, 
but  what  do  you  think!  One's  in  my 
upper  and  one's  in  my  lower  jaw  and 
they're  exactly  opposite  above  and  be- 
low, so's  I  can  chew.  Wouldn't  'a  hap- 
pened to  one  man  in  a  thousand!  I'm 
naturally  lucky  about  everything.' 

"Bless  his  old  heart!  What  he  inno- 
cently called  his  'luck'  was  nothing  but 
his  own  natural  outpouring  of  good  will 
toward  everybody  and  his  tendency  to 
make  the  best  of  things.  He's  leading  a 
happy  life  because  his  thoughts  are 
right,  and  there  are  kings  and  million- 
aires who  could  learn  from  him.  He 
doesn't  need  their  sympathy.  He's  richer 
than  they  are." 

"That's  a  striking  illustration,  Fred," 
said  papa,  "and  that  word  'sympathy' 
you  just  used  suggests  an  addition  to 


Pain  221 

what  I've  been  saying  to  Jim  and  Kit 
here.  I  believe  suffering  of  any  sort 
makes  us  far  more  sympathetic,  where 
others  are  concerned.  The  many  who 
have  lost  those  dearest  to  them  know 
what  others  so  afflicted  endure,  and  if 
possessed  of  any  heart  at  all,  want  to 
stretch  out  their  arms  and  help  them. 
It  is  so  with  the  grave  things  in  life  and 
so  even  with  the  lesser  ones.  The  man 
unfortunate  in  business,  the  one  with  a 
broken  leg,  the  child  who  has  lost  a  toy, 
each  is  made  likely  to  feel  more  for 
another  in  the  same  condition;  and  to 
be  sympathetic  and  hopeful  is  to  make 
strength  for  ourselves  here  and  pro- 
vision for  what  there  is  to  come. 

"You've  had  to  hear  a  lot  about  pain, 
besides  starting  out  as  a  shocking  ex- 
ample with  your  toothache  this  morn- 
ing. How  do  you  like  it,  Jim?"  and  papa 
laughed. 

"Well,"  answered  Jim,  quite  thought- 


222  These  Are  My  Jewels 


,  for  him,  "I  believe  I've  got  some 
pointers,  and,  as  for  that  toothache,  its 
gone  glimmering.  I'm  ahead,  after  all,  I 
guess." 

Jim  uses  what  sounds  a  good  deal 
like  slang  and  I'm  afraid  I'm  beginning 
to  understand  it.  I  told  him  that  I 
had  learned  a  good  deal  from  all  we 
had  heard  about  suffering,  and  that  I 
wouldn't  be  so  afraid  of  it  any  more. 
"Your  toothache  did  me  good,"  I  said. 

"That's  all  right,  Kit,"  answered  Jim, 
laughing  and  twisting  his  face,  "I'm 
glad  it  did  you  good  —  but  James  —  James 
—  he  paid  the  freight  !" 

Which  was  more  of  Jim's  slang.  He'll 
get  over  it,  mamma  says. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A   DAY   IN    FEBRUARY. 

It  is  away  into  winter  now — the  23rd 
of  February — and  the  wind  is  shrieking 
and  whistling  around  the  corners  of  the 
eaves,  and  the  air  is  full  of  snow,  now  in 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  Everything 
is  as  cold  and  hard  and  icy  as  it  can  be. 
Once  in  a  while  there  is  a  little  rent  in 
the  gray  sky  above  and  then  the  sun 
conies  out  and  shines  glitteringly  on  the 
tops  of  the  fence  posts,  and  on  the  ice 
ridges  which  show  up  once  in  a  while 
on  the  bare  clay  made  by  the  wagon 
tracks  in  the  street,  and  then — with  all 
that  whistling,  threatening  wind  —  it 
seems  colder  than  ever.  Yet,  I  am  a 
contented  and  happy  girl  in  the  midst 
of  it  all.  It  is  odd,  but  it  is  true,  once, 
such  a  day  as  this,  with  the  wind  whist- 

223 


224  These  Are  My  Jewels 

ling  and  the  icicles  sticking  down  be- 
yond the  tops  of  the  top  windows  seemed 
to  me  the  dreariest  thing  in  the  world; 
the  hardest  and  meanest. 

But  on  the  tall,  waving,  reed- like 
things  in  the  front  yard,  and  especially 
on  some  of  the  great  weeds  in  the  vacant 
lot,  there  has  just  come  sweeping  in  and 
settling  a  great  flock  of  snow  buntings. 
We  know  the  names  of  the  winter  birds, 
now,  Jim  and  I,  after  all  Uncle  Fred  has 
taught  us.  We  have  studied  hard,  and 
looked  sharp,  and  run  around  every- 
v.'here,  and  read  a  book  or  two  Uncle 
Fred  gave  us — to  try  to  find  out  about 
every  bird  that  comes  here,  and  that 
gives  a  new  interest  in  the  life  of  the 
whole  world,  for  us. 

And  there  are  a  thousand  other  things. 
Jim  and  I  don't  seem  like  the  same  boy 
and  girl.  It  is  hard  for  me  to  understand 
it,  and  yet  I  do  understand  it,  too. 

When  school  opened  last  September  I 


A  Day  in  February  225 

was  surprised  to  find  how  new  every- 
thing looked  to  me  in  the  new  light 
which  had  been  poured  into  my  own 
mind  during  the  summer  vacation. 

Girls  and  boys  who  before  seemed  dull 
or  silly  now  interest  me.  I  am  all  the 
time  looking  for  the  good  in  them,  ex- 
pecting it,  and  always  finding  more 
than  I  looked  for.  When  I  came  back  to 
school  I  remembered  my  lesson  about 
foolish  vanity,  and  didn't  let  any  girl's 
clothes  make  any  difference  in  my  liking 
for  her. 

I  get  along  pretty  well  with  Miss 
Fitzroy,  my  teacher,  though  she  always 
seems  to  succeed  in  "rubbing  every- 
body's fur  the  "wrong  way,"  as  Jim  says. 
I  learn  some  of  my  lessons  and  recite 
them,  by  just  driving  myself;  others  are 
easier,  though,  and  I  hope  I  shall  pass 
my  examination  all  right  next  June, 
though  I  am  very  slow  in  some  studies, 
and  one  glance  of  scorn  from  Miss  Fits- 


226  These  Are  My  Jewels 

roy's  eye  is  enough  to  congeal  my  very 
blood,  to  say  nothing  of  my  brain,  that 
won't  work  until  Miss  Fitzroy  looks  the 
other  way. 

Papa  says  I  must  learn  to  concentrate 
my  mind  upon  what  I  am  doing,  and  get 
so  that  I  am  not  easily  influenced  by  the 
actions  or  thoughts  of  others,  when  I  am 
attending  to  my  work.  He  says,  "So 
long  as  you  are  in  your  place,  and  doing 
your  best  at  your  task,  whatever  it  may 
be,  you  are  all  right,  and  you  need  not 
seek  the  approbation,  or  fear  the  dis- 
approval of  anyone." 

So  I  am  learning  a  lesson  not  in  the 
course  of  study,  from  my  teacher,  and 
she  doesn't  know  it.  Sometime,  when  I 
am  grown  up,  I  may  love  Miss  Fitzroy. 

This  world  certainly  is  a  beautiful 
place,  full  of  kindness  and  thoughtful- 
ness,  and  I  shall  never  be  one  to  com- 
plain or  be  disappointed. 

When  I  get  vexed  at  anyone  I  try  to 


A  Day  in  February  227 

think,  at  once,  that  God  is  in  that  very 
person  I  am  angry  with,  and  this  helps 
me  to  behave  myself.  I  often  fail  in  my 
attempts  to  live  in  accordance  with  the 
inner  "light  which  lighteth"  everyone, 
but  mamma  and  papa  always  encourage 
me  and  help  me  to  keep  on  trying. 

It  was  lonely,  at  first,  when  Aunt  Flo 
went  away.  We  all  missed  her,  and  then 
it  seemed  so  quiet  without  Joe  and 
Carrie.  So  I  had  all  I  could  do  to  keep 
mamma  cheered  and  jolly  the  first  day 
or  two,  and  papa  has  promised  that 
mamma  shall  take  Jim  and  me  to  visit 
Aunt  Flo  next  Summer.  Carrie  is  the 
very  dearest  girl  I  know,  and  Jim  is  the 
very  jolliest  brother  that  any  girl  could 
have,  and  as  for  mamma  and  papa — 
well,  they  are  "tip  top."  Jim  and  I  agree 
on  that  as  on  many  other  things. 

My  dolls,  I  have  at  last  put  away  for 
good.  The  day  before  Cousin  Carrie  left, 
she  and  I  dressed  Maybelle  and  Lucretia 


228  These  Are  My  Jewels 

Mott  in  their  very  best,  and  then  we  put 
them  in  Mamma's  big  packing  trunk 
that  smells  of  camphor  and  stands  in 
our  garret. 

It  was  not  without  a  pang  that  I 
gave  them  up,  but  I  am  getting  along 
in  years.  I  was  twelve  my  last  birthday. 
At  Christmas,  when  we  had  a  lot  of 
children  visiting  us,  I  got  the  dolls  out 
for  them,  and  they  enjoyed  playing  with 
them  as  much  as  ever  I  did. 

The  Slann  boys  go  to  the  same  school 
as  Jim  and  I,  but  they  are  in  a  lower 
room.  They  say  Viggo  is  very  clever 
and  quick  to  learn.  Jim  says  he  is  sure 
Viggo  will  catch  up  with  him  this  year, 
and  he  tries  all  he  can  to  help  him.  The 
younger  boy,  Max,  isn't  so  bright  as 
Viggo,  but  he  just  tags  along  as  usual. 

The  Duncans  and  Lanes  are  as  jolly 
as  ever.  We  have  good  times  together, 
and  Johannesburg  Pietersburg  is  going 
on  well  at  school.  He  "wants  to  be  a 


A  Day  in  February  229 

soldier,  but  Johnny  Lane  is  going  to  be 
a  lawyer,  or  minister,  or  something  that 
talks,  anyway.  • 

Jim  hasn't  decided  what  he  will  be. 
"President  of  a  railroad,  or  any  old  thing 
will  do," — he  says. 

Papa  says  it  doesn't  matter  so  much 
about  our  occupations  or  what  we  do,  as 
what  we  are.  Once  he  quoted  from  a 
man  named  Ralph  Waldo  Bmerson. 
The  quotation  ran  something  like  this: 
"What  you  are  speaks  so  loud  I  can't 
hear  what  you  say." 

I  have  a  glimmering  of  what  that 
means.  I  think  of  it  sometimes  when 
someone  is  talking  a  good  deal, — some 
one  not  so  very  wise. 

It  is  a  queer  way  to  say  what  I  want  to 
say  but  I  feel  a  great  deal  both  younger 
and  older  than  I  was  a  year  ago. 

I  feel  younger  because  I  know  Jim 
better,  and  the  Slann  boys  better,  and 
the  coons  and  all  wild  creatures,  better, 


230  These  Are  My  Jewels 

and  everything  seems  fresher  in  a  way 
that  I  do  not  know  just  how  to  explain. 

I  feel  older,  because  somehow  during 
these  months  I  have  come  closer  to  my 
father  and  mother  and  Uncle  Fred  and 
to  the  realities  that  affect  them  and  all 
of  us,  and  our  relations  with  God. 

But  above  all  I  got  closer  to  Jim.  It 
seems  to  me  that  Jim,  my  brother, — and 
frequently  I  think  that  I  am  smarter 
than  he  is  —  it  seems  to  me  that  my 
brother  Jim  is  teaching  me  perhaps 
more  than  I  have  learned  from  anyone 
or  anything  else.  I  guess  it's  because  a 
girl  at  my  age  and  Jim's  knows  more 
than  a  boy,  but  a  boy  doesn't  try  to  show 
off  so  much. 

Anyhow,  because  of  what  papa  and 
mamma  have  taught  us,  Jim  and  I  see 
everything  shinier  as  we  look  ahead — 
and  I  think  that  I  will  be — anyway  I 
hope  that  I  will  be, — a  good  woman  and 
I  know  Jim  will  be  a  good  man.  And  it 


A  Day  in  February  231 

all  seems  wonderful  and  better  and  I 
know  that  we  are  more  all  right,  any- 
how. 

The  world  is  a  beautiful  place  to  me 
since  I  have  learned  that  God  is  in  all 
and  is  a  part  of  everything.  I  do  not 
fear  what  is  coming  as  I  grow  older. 
God  will  take  care  of  me  and  all  I  have 
to  do  is  to  be  sure  I  am  his  own  child 
and  a  part  of  Him  all  the  time. 

Mamma  says  the  love  she  and  papa 
have  for  Jim  and  me  is  only  a  little  part 
of  God's  love  showing  out  plain  so  there 
is  no  mistaking  it. 

Jim  says  the  sample  we  have  every 
day  is  surely  the  genuine  thing,  and  I 
agree  with  him.  I  like  to  think  that  all 
the  goodness  I  see  at  home,  at  school 
and  everywhere  is  but  God's  love  shin- 
ing out  in  one  way  or  another.  I  am 
going  to  try  to  be  ane  of  those  through 
whom  God  works,  even  if  in  but  a  small, 


232  These  Are  My  Jewels 

unnoticed  way.  And  in  it  all  I  am  a 
very  happy  girl,  for  I  know  that  "God 
is  L/ove." 

THE    END. 


DC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LBRAfl 


A     000125009     1 


